


31-Day Tales of Series Christmas Challenge

by midorimortem



Category: Tales of Graces, Tales of Hearts, Tales of Series, Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Xillia, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Christmas Challenge, Fluff, Friendship power all the way!, Friendship/Love, It's Finally Done, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Universes, Omg literally everyone is on this fic im so sorry, Other, So many characters I decided to erease the tags, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-03 18:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 30,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8725174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midorimortem/pseuds/midorimortem
Summary: One-shots or short stories from many of my favorite Tales of Series couples and friendships, which I'll try to upload one per day during December, 2016. Some of them will be rare-pairings, but you'll actually find some canon couples or even fan-favorites I can't help but love. Please enjoy and leave a comment!
Posted in Fanfiction, Ao3 and WattpadPrompts posted on my tumblr





	1. Winter Clothes

Tales of the Abyss  
Jade x Natalia

* * *

 

Everyone wondered why Natalia refused to bring thicker clothing when they had all told her Grand Chokmah became incredibly cold by the end of the year. She insisted it should be nothing compared to Baticul's winter, but she was surprised to find the fortress' waterfall completely frozen. As it surrounded the entire city, the temperature dropped drastically, making the weather a lot less friendly that the one at her hometown. After the princess and her friends arrived together for Emperor Peony's annual holiday dinner, Natalia locked herself up in the Inn and regretted every decision she'd made in the past few days. Of course it'd be cold, what was she thinking?!

Her friends offered to lend her one of their robes, but they'd all end up freezing if they didn't have at least three layers of clothing on, so Natalia denied their help for the moment. The princess covered herself up to her chin with the Inn's blankets and wondered what would be the best course of action if she didn't want to end up in Peony's dinner party in a real-life icicle costume. After almost ten minutes of silently gritting her teeth and holding her tears from embarrassment, someone knocked at the door.

"Come in", Natalia said, expecting Tear to enter the room. In her instead, Jade opened the door slowly, as if asking for permission to intrude. "Oh… hi, Colonel."

"I found it strange you didn't come with the rest of the group. Did they really leave you behind?" The Necromancer asked with a playful tone.

"No, I insisted they moved along, I'd catch up with them once I know what to do."

"Then Anise was right, you were dumb enough not to bring extra clothing."

"Hey!"

"It's what Anise said." Jade laughed finally walking inside the room. He was dressed sharply, in one of the army's formal uniforms, but Natalia noticed he had something beneath his left arm. "I decided to come to your rescue, though."

Jade handed her one of his coats, which Natalia took with skepticism. She didn't expect anyone to offer some help in her situation, it was even less probable Jade would be the one to bring up a solution. Natalia crawled out of the bed and placed the coat around her shoulders, feeling an incredible warmth wrapping her entire body. The coat smelt nice, it reeked of Jade's cologne. It almost made her feel as if he was embracing her, not just for the smell but also because of the heat it emanated. Natalia blushed, but acknowledged it was the best solution to her problem.

"W-whoa… what did you do to it?" She fixed her dress beneath the robe and tugged the shoulders slightly, since Jade was taller and his back was wider than the princess', the coat fit a little loose on her body.

"Most of my clothes are imbued with fonic artes", he shrugged. Natalia understood how he had managed to keep himself fresh at the desert or warm at Mt. Roneal earlier that year. "It'll keep you warm as long as you're not too far away from me."

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver, Jade!" She said, holding his hands in excitement as she could finally move without any of her joints aching because of the cold.

"I know, I know." He placed a hand on her shoulder and fixed the straps on her waist so the coat would not slip down as they walked out of the Inn. It had started to snow, Jade was grateful he managed to reach Natalia on time before the dinner had begun. If he had reached the Inn a few minutes later, they'd not be able to get to the party on time. "Just promise me you'll punch Peony in the face if he says anything about lending you my clothes, please."

"Sure thing", Natalia laughed and took the arm he offered. The snow began to fall and the city fell quiet as people withdrawing themselves to their houses. The princess smiled, the silence was quite enjoyable and Jade had always been a good conversation partner when nothing needed to be said. She'd always been comfortable spending time around the Necromancer, unlike other people who resented his presence. Perhaps spending her entire afternoon ignoring the others and feeling Jade's warmth embracing her wouldn't be such a bad idea.


	2. Decorations

Tales of Xillia  
Alvin x Leia

* * *

 

Leia opened the main entrance after her mother angrily ordered her to do so. _Who knocks at this ungodly hour?_ She thought. They managed an Inn, sure, but they rarely got any guests after 4 am. Whoever was behind that door was either an idiot who didn't know how to read the check-in times, or someone asking for help. Whichever option, Leia would have to deal with them on her own.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Alvin… I'm sorry about the hour." Leia opened the door as quick as her hands let her, and hugged her friend as soon as he walked inside the house.

"You should have called me, dummy! Come on in, what happened?"

"My GHS broke, so I couldn't call beforehand. I was going to spend this month with Elize, Elle and Rowen at Sharil manor, but apparently, the girls got a strong case of chipree pox. The old man insists nobody gets close these days, so I got stranded yesterday and I didn't know what to do."

"Why didn't you go back home?"

"Balan's got a girl over and he asked me to leave the apartment during his vacation break... I sorta understand him, but… I didn't expect my plans to go downhill" He said, pestered. "Jurgen invited me to spend the holidays with him and Isla but… it's complicated." Leia nodded, walking him to the kitchen. Her mother eyed them from the second floor but she acknowledged Alvin's presence. He hadn't been a client from several years: whenever any of her friends came by, Leia offered to pay for their expenses with her own money. Of course, she never paid a cent.

"What about Jude? He didn't come back home this time, I would have known. You could spend time with him."

"No, he's busy writing another thesis nowadays. He didn't even offer any help, so I guess I went with the flow and took the next trip to Leronde I could find." He said with a smug smile, accepting Leia's offering for a warm drink. Leia would have felt a pang of pain for being considered his last option, but being the happy-go-lucky girl that she was, she let it pass on quickly. She smiled widely, noticing that her plans for tomorrow morning now included Alvin, and he'd be part of it whether he wanted or not.

"Hey! You'll have to pay for your stay this time, mister!" She said. Alvin glanced at her, confused.

"That's unusual, you're usually ok if I just cook a couple of meals for you. What is it, are you going to make me pay with my body or something?" He asked, mischievously. Leia was old enough to get his nasty jokes already, but she was also smart enough to turn the jokes back at him.

"Oh, more or less, I'm quite bossy, you know?"

"W-what?"

"Nothing, nothing." Leia laughed, shaking her head as she handed him the key to the guest room besides her bedroom. "Be up at eight, you're going to give me hand tomorrow after breakfast. It's better if you go to sleep now, I bet you're tired." She walked him upstairs and wished him goodnight. It'd be of great help to have someone as tall as Alvin helping her out for her tasks the next day.

And so, the next morning Alvin awoke to the thumbing noise of Leia running several times across the hall. He ruffled his hair and peeked outside his door to find the young woman pushing around several boxes she kept striking with her staff to move them out of the way. She moved quickly and didn't seem to stop bringing more boxes every time she ran down from the attic's staircase.

"Uhm… hello?" He greeted her as she slid across his room with three large boxes in her arms. "What are you doing?"

"Taking out the Christmas decorations, of course! Now that I have your help, it'll be a lot easier to get them done by tonight!"

"Decorations?" It had been almost 15 years since he last decorated anything. Alvin wasn't fond of it, since it had lost all meaning the celebration could have on itself.

"Yup! It's always my task to keep the lodge as nice as possible, now it's the season to put up some jolly stuff around. I'll have you helping me as a way of payment for your stay… after all, you're staying for around three weeks or so, aren't you?"

"Isn't cooking enough this time?" He said tiredly, glancing at the numerous boxes Leia had piled up at the living room.

"You'll also cook, but I do need your help with this."

Leia explained she always had a terrible time climbing up the roof ever since her father hurt his back three years ago. Worse of all, she was always unable to reach the high places, which her father had to do most of the times, injuring himself in the process. Having Alvin around would imply not needing any help from Mr. Rolando this year. Reluctantly, Alvin agreed to help her and after taking a quick shower and a barely breakfast, they started playing around with the boxes.

After many Christmas lights he had to put almost all by himself off the edge of the rooftop of the lodge, he finally made his way back in the building. Leia had decorated the fireplace with large socks with her parents' names and one with her own, of course. He didn't let go unnoticed the fact that she stuck a note that read "also Alvin's" on hers, and she had already filled them with candy. She placed seasonal crowns atop of the chimney and decorated it with crystal spheres, but at the moment, she was struggling with the tree decorations she couldn't reach at the top. Alvin sighed, feeling as if his own back would snap at any moment. Yet he couldn't let the girl be helpless when he was goofing around, complaining about the hard work she had put him through.

"Need help?" He asked, taking the lights from her hands and he coiled them around the top of the tree. Alvin tossed them to Leia, who wrapped them around the bottom with ease.

"Thanks! How did it go outside?"

"It looks wonderful, if I must say so myself. In a few hours it'll look better, though."

"That's my boy! I know you could do it!" She congratulated him, passing him a small box with decorations to hang at the top.

She hummed as she quickly hanged more spheres around the middle, while Alvin did the same at a slower and lazier pace. Once the box was out of decorations, Leia walked a few steps back to look at their creation. To Alvin's taste, it was a little bit too saturated with spheres and colored paper, but to Leia's eyes it was perfect. He smiled, as she jumped around it with excitement. She exclaimed she was so happy they'd been able to finish it before noon, so she'd make them both a really nice meal.

"Wait, it's missing something." He said, before Leia ran away to the kitchen.

"What is it- whoa! Why are you carrying me?"

"You missed the top. I assume you like to finish our masterpiece yourself." He had that typical smug smile on his face as he handed her the top of the tree he had snuck out of the box when she wasn't looking. Leia smiled back, taking the star and putting it on its place as she held onto Alvin's neck for dear life. "See, now it's perfect."

"Thank you so much, it's been the most fun Decoration Day in years." She said, latching her arms around his shoulders to keep her balance. "… you can put me down now, you know?"

"Oh, y-yeah. Sorry." He placed her down to the ground, but held her in his arms for a moment before letting her go, leaning down to her height. "It's been fun, indeed. Thanks, kid." He ruffled her hair and caressed her head with affection, grateful to be spending time with Leia for the first time since their adventure ended once again. "Now, about that dinner, how about we do some awesome teamwork again and I help you so that we can eat sooner?"

"Yeah! That'd be awesome!" Leia said cheerfully, running down to the kitchen and pulling Alvin's arm for him to follow. It was going to be a long, exiting month.


	3. Warm Bath

  
Tales of Vesperia  
Raven x Judith

Note: Slightly adult themed.

* * *

"I'm afraid we only have one hot spring free for the evening, sir." The receptionist said as she glanced at the older man. He sighed, shaking his head as he turned around to face his companion. Judith had a calm, unexpressive look on her face concealed behind a smile. She always did that whenever she felt slightly bothered. Raven sighed again, noticing he'd have to do something if he didn't want her to beat him during their next training if he didn't keep his promise.

"May I ask, miss… it's just the beginning of the month, isn't it supposed to be almost empty this time around? Not to mention the hour…" Raven glanced at the clock on the wall, it was around 6 pm, there shouldn't be anyone around now. Why did they only have one hot spring left?

"Oh, it's because it began to snow just around an hour ago, kind sir. We do have the outdoor hot springs available, but it's no good if it's snowing. We only have a couple of indoor bathrooms, so we're only offering those for now." The woman explained. Raven felt like he was going to run out of sighs if things kept going like that. He shouldn't have bet with Judith he could win against Karol in arm wrestling. In just a couple of years the kid had become incredibly strong. Now he owed her a well-deserved bath and he'd have nothing for himself. Coming all the way to Yumanju had been for naught thanks to the weather.

"At least tell me it's a woman's bathroom." He asked, taking out his wallet to pay for Judith's enjoyment. Oh, the things he'd do just to get her on a good mood.

"It's actually a shared spring, sir. You and your wife could go together if you wish."

"W-wife? No, no, she's not my…"

"That'd be lovely" Judith interrupted, walking into the counter with that kind, but fake smile on her lips. The lady didn't seem to grasp onto the situation, so she took Raven's money and handed Judith the key to their room. Raven gulped. If he had learned anything from their trip, it was to never trust the girl whenever she acted like that.

The young woman took the keys and grabbed Raven by the neck of his robes, pulling him across the spa with ease. He didn't even complain, he was too startled to react in time when Judith had already pushed him inside their chamber. He blushed wildly when she let go of him, making him trip on his own feet and fall to the ground. The woman smiled seductively and walked past him without saying a word.

"Judy, dear… are you mad at me or something?" He asked, feeling slightly intimidating by her playful demeanor. Whenever she acted like that, she was usually about to stab someone with her spear.

"You'll have to come with me to find out." Judith answered, disappearing behind the changing screen. Raven gulped. Was she implying what he thought she implied?! He crawled trying to pick himself up and stumbled into the changing screen, but Judith's arm stopped him before he could go behind it. He didn't even catch a glimpse! "No, not yet. Go change."

Judith's instructions were more like orders to him. Confused, Raven walked into the other changing screen across the room and undressed himself, tying a towel around his waist and he placed another one atop of his hair, letting it down from its usual ponytail. He moved quickly and glanced at Judith's screen, but she had already gone into the spring without him noticing. She called out for him from the outer part of the room, and with doubtful steps, he went into the stone-cold floor of the bath.

She had her body submerged down onto her shoulders, but Raven could tell she wasn't wearing a towel to cover her body. The steam and the bubbling water covered most of her charming attributes, but Raven was able to peek at her directly. He blushed wildly as he tried to look away when he made his way down to the stone spring.

"Dear, you have to stop teasing me like that." Raven pledged, cleaning his face with the warm water. He might be a pervert, and he might have even peeked at her in the past without her knowledge, but he was always ashamed of being caught in the act. Whenever Judith forced situations like this one, he knew she was taking revenge for all those times he had made her feel uncomfortable.

"Why? It's so much fun to see you all flustered." She smiled, licking her lips slightly. Raven sword to the heavens he'd lose his mind if she kept doing things like that. "Besides, I know you were secretly hoping this would happen."

Raven glanced away and said nothing. He could feel the energy of his blastia going crazy. It was almost as if his heart was beating faster and faster, if he still had a heart. He apologized for not being able to get them separate baths, but Judith laughed in return.

"I'm not angry, you know?"

"You're not?"

"Why would I?" She drifted from her spot in front of him and swam across the spring until she was sitting beside him. Raven did his best to avoid glancing down at her cleavage, but he evidently failed his several attempts at it. She was doing it on purpose. She always did when she tried to make her victim vulnerable. "You paid for it and you're keeping me company. The only thing missing is some warm sake and this would be perfect."

"Don't bring alcohol into the mix, please…" Raven cried, moving away from her a few inches when he felt her skin grazing his arm.

"I'm being serious." Her tone changed, but her smile remained on her face. This time, however, it wasn't that poker-face smile she usually had, but a genuine gesture of joyfulness. "Even if the water is warm, I can feel it's snowing outside. I'm glad things have turned out like this."

"…why?" Raven asked, dumbfounded.

"I've always wanted to see how you'd react if I made the move. But, to be honest, you're quite softer than I expected! Anyway… thanks for coming with me. It's been a delight, _Captain Schwann._ " She teased him, using his former name from the army. Raven insisted so many times she didn't call him that, but she usually did it anyway. Out of all the others, perhaps she was the only one who had noticed how different were Schwann and Raven from one another. And still, she was the only one who had been able to catch a glimpse of the different personalities he usually had, in more than one occasion.

Perhaps forcing him to break down his barriers was her way to getting closer to his original self. Perhaps she was just being mean and she wanted to take her vengance. Who knew… as long as she kept pushing him forward, small, intimate secrets between the two of them were more than enough to keep them both happy.


	4. Ugly Sweaters

Dezel x Rose  
Tales of Zestiria

* * *

The sweater Dezel was holding was probably the ugliest thing he had ever laid his hands upon. He could not even see it, but he knew it was plainly terrible, just for the touch of the fabric. What gave it completely away was Edna's manic laughter. If she had kept her mouth shut, he'd have probably wore it with no complains, but she was a terrible liar after all. He felt embarassment crawl up across his face, even if he couldn't see the gift he had just taken out of the wrapping.

"Shepherd, may I ask you something?" The wind seraph decided to do something before it was too late. Dezel ignored Edna's laughter and walked towards Sorey, who turned around with curiosity. "I know you're an honest person… describe this sweater, please."

"Oh, it's the one Rose bought you?" Sorey's expression wavered. Dezel already knew the answer, but waited patiently for the Shepherd's words. "Uh… I knew she was getting one for each one of us, but I think you've gotten the worst."

"The one she gave me is actually cool, I don't know why she did this to you…" Mikleo sounded in distraught. Just what kind of monstrous design did the sweater have?! The wool was stingy and it didn't feel like it was made of top quality thread.

"First of all, it's half fluorescent green, half bright red."

"On the back and on the front?!" Dezel asked, concerned.

"No, more like the top and the bottom… it's like someone ran out of the first ball of yarn and decided to continue with a different color."

"Oh my god, what's with that horrible rat-drawing in the middle?" Zaveid's voice asked, he had just arrived at their room on the inn after going out for a walk with Lailah.

"I think it's supposed to be a crow." The fire seraph said, covering her mouth with worry.

"Rose must really hate you, Dezel. Why would she buy you something like this?" Edna said with a large smirk, laughing under her breath as she inspected the horrible details on the fists and neck.

"Agh, I'm done with this! I'll dump this thing and I'm gonna tell her it's horrible!" He said, pestered. Rose would be back in around five minutes, since she had gone to buy more supplies for their trip, but he'll catch her on her way and confront her face-to-face, without everyone eyes on them. His friends tried to stop him, insisting he'd hurt her feelings, but he didn't give a single fuck about her emotions at the moment. Why would she even think it was a good idea to gift him something like that?

"Oh, hi!" Rose greeted him just as she turned around the corner with three bags on her hands "Mind helping me with th—?"

"We need to talk."

"Oh, you've already opened your gift!" She exclaimed, noticing he was carrying it beneath his arm. "I know it's not the best, but I actually knit that one myself, isn't that great?!"

"W-what?!"

"Yeah! I wanted to practice knitting, I've not done it since I was a child. So, I took the opportunity with the sweaters. I decided to practice with yours because… well, you and I are quite closer than the others, and I've known you for a longer time, of all of them I'm confident enough about what to give you as a present" Dezel twitched, Rose obviously had no idea of anything she was talking about. "I made one for myself, but I'm half-way through. Let's make sure to wear them on our New Year's Eve dinner, ok?"

He was usually honest, even mean if necessary. It didn't matter if it was Rose, who was the usual object of his critiques. She was one of the few beings he wished to protect more than anything in this word, but that didn't mean she wasn't dumb from time to time and he never wavered to tell her directly to her face. It didn't matter if it was the Sheppherd or a higher Seraphim, he usually spoke his mind and didn't go around telling lies to make others feel better. Yet, that evening, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew Rose was terrible with hand-made things and her do-it-yourself projects usually ended in disaster, but she always tried her best in making things work. Even if she practiced, she'd usually not give up on it until she found something better or far more interesting to do. She never finished her projects, though. The fact that he was holding one of her completed 'masterpieces' was more than enough to make Dezel keep his mouth shut.

He sighed and grabbed the sweater in front of his face, as if he was trying to look at it before deciding something he'd regret for months. The wind seraph removed his tophat and placed it atop of Rose's head and took his leather jacket off, then he slipped inside the sweater. It was itching badly and the wool made it unbearably warm. He knew he looked ridiculous, even if Rose seemed oblivious of how bad her creation was. Dezel scratched the back of his head and retrieved his hat.

"Just… make sure to be wearing yours next time, ok?"


	5. Vacation Break

Gall & Ines  
Tales of Hearts R

Note: There are some spoilers from Ines' backstory.

* * *

Super-human strength didn't help to pack the bags. Ines had decided, for some reason, to stick her whole wardrobe inside her luggage for a three-day trip, and she was unable to close the zipper with just her mighty force. She had to be careful, if she pulled a little bit more, she'd rip the zipper apart. She fetched Lapis for help and asked her step-daughter to sit atop of the bag, making it easier to close it. Ines smiled and thanked her, giving Lapis a swift kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks, darling." Ines said, carrying the girl with one arm and the luggage with the other.

"Mom, do I really have to go? The three of us can go to the beach together." The girl complained, rolling her eyes.

"No, dear, we've talked about this. I'm going on an adult-only trip, kids have to go camping with Hisui this weekend, ok?" She explained, sitting her child on the mattress to tie her shoelaces.

"But I want to go with you and Gall! I'm going to miss you! And I'm going to miss his pancakes!"

"I see you've only taken a liking of me because of my cooking, young miss." Gall's voice interrupted as he entered the room. Clad in his usual leopard-print clothes, he didn't wear his goggles this time. Instead, he had a pair of reading glasses that made him look slightly older than per usual.

"No, I'm actually going to miss you, Gall. You're fun, and mommy likes you." She smiled and stretched her legs.

"Is that so?" Gall smiled mischievously, but Ines elbowed him on the rib before he could say anything else.

"We're going to miss you too, sweetheart. But you'll be having a lot of fun, Hisui and Kohaku must be arriving soon and you'll go camping with them, I'm sure they're almost here. You'd probably get bored if you came with us, we'll be lying on the sand for hours and hours straight."

"Hmp… fine." The girl frowned and rose to her feet, picking her backpack from the floor. "But you better bring me a pretty seashell."

"Sure thing, darling."

Ines took her hand and walked her outside when she heard a knock at the door. It was time to say goodbye, Hisui and her sister had arrived. Ever since their trip, she had not parted ways with Lapis, thus it made things hard for her to split from the girl. Lapis hugged her with a lot of strength and Ines lowered herself to her height. Gall noticed it was better to give them some space and decided to go to the front door to receive the newcomers.

"I'm going to miss you so much. Whatever happens, just tell Hisui and they'll know how to find me, ok?" Lapis nodded and smiled, fixing a lock of her mother's hair.

"Don't worry, mommy, you have fun with Gall, I'll be fine. Besides, I can pinch Hisui's nose if I feel sad and I'll think of you, tehehe"

"That's my girl!" Ines patted her in the head. At times, she reminded her so much of herself, but at others, she was the living image of Silver. "Now, give me a hug, we'll be back in no time."

"Hey, mom… can I ask you something?" Ines nodded and Lapis continued. "If you're my new mommy… does this mean Gall is going to be my new daddy?" The older woman felt her cheeks burning up, but she could clearly hear Gall snorting in the distance. Apparently, he had overheard the conversation, but when Ines glanced at him, he had recovered his composure.

"No, no, darling. Gall is just a friend, don't think about that! I promised him to go on vacation together when I could manage to take a break, but we're not together." Lapis looked at her with an incredulous look on her face. "Don't look at me like that! Besides, you only have one mommy and one daddy, ok? Never forget Perl and Silver loved you very, very much, my dear."

"You loved daddy too… right?" Ines had a grim look on her face, but she nodded quietly and hugged Lapis, careful not to squeeze her so much she'd get hurt. She let go of her and ran towards the door, hugging Gall in the process and then caught up with Hisui and Kohaku, who greeted her cheerfully. "Have a good trip, mommy! You too, Gall! Take care of her, please!"

"Good trip, dear!" Ines waved at her after thanking the Hearts brothers for their help. She the closed the door and wiped a few tears from her eyes, holding Gall's arm in the process. He patted her hair and pushed her inside the house, picking the luggage to go out as soon as possible.

"You're being quite sentimental today, kid. You sure you'll be fine?" Gall asked, sitting on the living room's couch before leaving the house. Ines was still picking some of her stuff before they picked a cart to the port and then a boat to the island. "We can move the trip for another time, you know?"

"Oh, no don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that being a parent is…"

"Hard". They both said in unison. Perhaps the fact that they got along so well was that they both understand what the other had been through. Ines was so young and unexperienced, she could hear a word of advice from time to time.

"Ready your things and let's get going, kid. The sooner we get, the less you're going to miss her. She'll have fun and you'll be back in no time." Gall patted her back and smiled, carrying the luggage once again and opened the door for her to go out. "Now, what did Lapis said about being-"

"If you say one daddy joke I'm going to kick you to oblivion." Ines snapped back before Gall could finish. The older man laughed maniacally and closed the door behind them, already knowing it'd be an exciting weekend.


	6. Buying presents

Regal & Raine  
Tales of Symphonia

* * *

It had been six months since he stopped wearing the shackles. He still dressed in humble clothes and refused to live Altamira, it was hard for him to remember everything that happened without becoming a mess of a man. So far, he'd been crashing on different places where his friends would not ask him to pay any rent, but they'd ask for small favors in return.

The only one who rarely asked anything in exchange was Professor Sage. Genis had gone to Syback to study and Raine had been living on her own for quite a while, but she never asked for anything whenever Regal crashed in her house after a long trip. Occasionally she'd ask him to help her carry some books and order them in her bookcase, or to carry the groceries inside the kitchen, but that was mere decency as a guest in her house. Yet, one night during the last month of the year, while they were having dinner in complete silence, Raine spoke and asked for a favor. Regal looked at her with curiosity and nodded, listening carefully at her request.

"Join me tomorrow while I go shopping. I planned to go to Luin in the morning, would you mind accompanying me?"

"Not at all." He said finishing his meal, picking up the dishes afterwards. It was a strange request, but he'd do it anyway.

They arrived at Luin the next day after midday. As they strolled on Luin's main street, Regal noticed Raine was checking a large list with impeccable calligraphy. Some of the things he managed to read from over her shoulder were their friend's names and some brainstorming beneath it. Genis' was the name at the top and he had three simple things written beneath it: new kendama, magical robe and antique grimoire.

"We're shopping for gifts?" Regal asked, startling Raine for a second as they'd been walking in silence the whole time.

"Yes. I usually bought Genis, Colette and Lloyd presents to celebrate New Year's Eve, so I'm quite familiar with their preferences. Yet, I have no idea what to give to everyone else." Raine explained, showing him an almost empty list with Presea, Sheena and Zelos' names. He was slightly surprised he didn't see his own name written over. Perhaps he only gave them to her younger friends.

"I suppose you need help picking for the others." He asked and the Professor nodded, heading towards a coffee shop downtown. "I'm not sure I can be of help, Raine."

"Nonsense! Two heads are always better than one. And besides, you and I are the adults of our group, we have to be responsible for these children's holidays." She said and explained she planned to reunite them all for dinner in Dirk's house the last day of the year. Since most of them were orphans or had to spend the holidays alone, Raine always believed it was a good idea to reunite them for dinner.

"As long as you're not the one cooking, professor." Regal laughed, sipping from his cup of coffee.

"That was rude… but I admit you're right. I wanted to ask for your help in picking the gifts and preparing the dinner for us." Raine drank from her tea and glanced intensely at him. Regal sighed and nodded, at least cooking would grant him a month of rent with any of them, even Zelos.

After they were done with the coffee and they had discussed several possible gifts for the younger ones, Raine insisted they should get moving on or night would fall upon them and she'd not like to spend the whole day in Luin. It'd be better if they could catch the last carriage back to Iselia by noon. First, Raine suggested picking up Genis' new kendama first, but Regal insisted it was better to gift him an old grimoire instead.

"He's probably trying to improve his skills and gifting him a toy won't do him any better, but the book will do." He inspected the items at the shop and found a large, dark purple bow in one of the counters. "On the other hand, I think Presea would like something like this. She's trying to get back the years she's lost, thus helping her to look and feel like a girl sounds like a good idea."

"Huh, I guess you're right." Raine picked up the bow and the grimoire. Both agreed Lloyd was the easiest pick, gifting him another pair of training swords would be more than enough. Colette was another quick choice, after they found a beautiful stuffed animal shop there were no other ideas that came to their minds once the saw a strange blue creature plush toy, that resembled a mouse or a rabbit. Sheena wasn't as easy, but Raine knew the ninja liked to collect origami figures and, at times, she enjoyed making them herself. After half an hour of roaming the market, they found a nice origami set. Zelos wasn't really hard: a box of luxurious chocolates and a bouquet Raine would buy some time later would make the redhead's heart pound with excitement.

"It only took two hours, but I think we made it." Raine exclaimed with excitement. She glanced at Regal, who wasn't paying her much attention. "What are you doing?"

"Oh… I was buying something we've missed." He smiled, placing his purchase inside his pocket. "I'll show you once we get back to Iselia."

And so, they took the next carriage back to Raine's hometown and unpacked the presents on her table. It was still early and the diner would not be until the next week, she still had more than enough time to wrap everything up and ready it for their little party.

"Can you show me now?" She asked, removing her coat and sitting beside him on the table as he played with one of Lloyd's new swords.

"Sure, here you go." He handed her a small box with a dark colored necklace on the inside. The stone wasn't shimmering even if it was thoroughly polished, but Raine could notice it was very antique. Her eyes lit up with excitement, to which Regal just smiled and offered to put it on her. "You forgot to buy something for yourself, so I had to do it for you. It's a fossilized basilisk scale, they're very valuable."

"You bought this… for me?"

"Yes… was I wrong?"

"N-no… I've actually bought you something, too. I wanted to wait but… here, I hope you like it." She took a small sachet from one of her drawers and handed it to him. Regal opened it and took out a pair of silver cuffs with blue gemstones. "One day you'll go back to business and I think those would look good with you… they reminded me of your eyes." Regal swore he saw the Professor blushing slightly. He observed the cuffs with curiosity and a light pang of guilt invaded him. Perhaps it was time to go back and leave the past behind.

He never expected Raine would be his wake-up call.


	7. Snowball Fight

Hubert & Pascal  
Tales of Graces

* * *

 

He was so stiff all the time, rarely did he ever smiled or laughed at anybody’s joke. He never showed his emotions, though he was easily embarrassed and tended to act flustered when something shocked him greatly. Yet, Pascal knew one thing that made Hubert drop the act: challenging him or making him angry always worked wonders with him.

She fixed her coat, the one that Cheria forced her to wear anyway, and kneeled in the snow to pick a big, round, and sturdy snowball she crafted carefully and mischievously with her own hands. Pascal giggled as she carried the gigantic snowball on her hands, it was around the size of her head, but she balanced her weight with it and lumped her way onto Hubert’s spot. The blue haired teen was sitting in one of the benches around the park, reading a complicated, big book in complete silence as Asbel, Richard and Sophie built a snowman and Cheria directed the operation. Captain Malik wasn’t around, he’d gone off somewhere with that blonde lady from the military school and he’d come back sometime later. Hubert was the perfect victim, completely unaware he was about to be attacked by a gigantic, cold bunch of snow.

“Here we gooooo!” Pascal celebrated, trying to launch the ball, but Hubert spoke before she let go of it.

“If you think that’d be good enough to catch me off-guard, you’ll have to try better, Pascal.” He said bluntly and fixed his glasses up his nose.

“Ooooh, come on.” The girl complained, letting the enormous snowball fall over. “You’re no fun, little brother!”

“For one last time, don’t call me that.”

“Hmmmm… why not, _Little Bro_?” She mocked with a wide smile on her lips. Hubert got irritated and flinched, closing his book, and turning around to face her.

“I’m not your little bro and I hate when you do it, isn’t that enough? Not even Asbel calls me that.”

“So? You’re little, and you’re a brother, aren’t you?” She clung to the bench he was sitting, ignoring his personal space to get as close to his face as she could. He backed off and frowned with anger.

“You’re so annoying, why don’t you go play with the others? I want to be alone.”

“Is that so?” She asked, taking his glasses off in a swift movement. “It seems to me you’re just too ashamed to enjoy playing with snow? When was the last time you did it?” She gave the glasses back after cleaning them with her scarf. Hubert had hoped for the worst, but thankfully he had been mistaken.

“I don’t know… ten years, perhaps? But I do not miss it, it’s childish and it’s freezing. I’d rather---“ He got interrupted by a much smaller, yet equally cold snowball to the face. Hubert hadn’t noticed one of Pascal’s hands going down to the ground to pick a snowball as she neared his face to distract him. “WHY, YOU…!”

Humbert was about to fume from the ears and melt the snow from the heat that irradiated from his face. Pascal even froze for a minute when she saw how angry he had become in just a couple of seconds. However, she relaxed when she saw one thing she didn’t remember happening before: he smirked. The boy removed his glasses to clean them as he rose from the bench. Carefully, he withdrew his book to his coat as well and walked towards Pascal’s direction with his hands tucked in his pockets. He kept the sly smile on his face, and as he closed the gap towards the older girl, he swiftly lowered his body to grab a fistful of snow and started to mold it with his hands, compacting it with anger. Pascal smiled as well and tucked her hand in the cold to get another snowball, knowing that perhaps she’d gotten herself into quite some trouble.

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to see, Hubert! Come on, let’s play!”

“You’re on.”


	8. Fireworks

Luke/Tear  
Tales of the Abyss

* * *

The red-haired boy held his breath as he walked outside, towards the boat's deck and the cold weather hit him straight on the chest. Luke held two cups on his hands, but it wasn't the cold air burning his lungs or the unbearably hot beverages scalding his hands which took his breath away: it was the glance of the girl he had met just a few time ago, sitting all by herself with her legs dangling from the front of the boat. She was astonishing, with her large, brown hair getting blown gently by the breeze. Her eyes seemed lost in the night sky, but she almost looked as if she was about to take to the sky for the emotions she showed.

"I knew you'd be here." Luke said, walking towards her after gathering some courage. Tear seemed startled, but she smiled kindly when he approached. She moved aside and offered him a seat, thus Luke lowered his body slowly to avoid spilling the drinks on her. "I know you don't drink coffee, so I brought you some hot cocoa." He handed her a large cup that reeked of sweetness and warmth. Tear smiled and grabbed the cup with her hands, warming up to its touch. She smiled and smelled its fragrance, which made her smirk widen with pleasure.

"This is odd coming from you, Luke." She said after taking a sip that almost burnt her tongue. "But it's nice… thanks."

"What's so interesting up there?" Luke asked, glancing upon the sky. It was a beautiful starry night, but it was nothing uncommon nowadays to have such wonderful views, after all, they'd been traveling by boat for at least a week.

"It's… quite dumb." She admitted, resting her arms on the metal bars before her. "This is the first time I've got to spend New Year's Eve outside from Yulia City."

"Oh… I guess this is the first time you're outside as the clock hits the hour, then?" Tear nodded. She recognized it was a tradition in Baticul to release fireflies as a New Year's Eve celebration, so he should have been used to it. To Tear, however, it was a completely new experience. She stared at the sky with fascinated eyes as her smile widened every time she managed to find a constellation or a renowned star. To Luke's surprise, she was very knowledgeable about astrology. Perhaps it was a hobby of hers he wasn't aware of.

"It's so beautiful…" she muttered, reaching her arms as if she was trying to hold the sky with her fingers. She giggled as a shooting star flew by and disappeared within a second.

"Yeah..." Luke muttered something afterwards that Tear barely managed to overhear. She blushed with a smile still on her face but she turned around without saying anything else.

"P-perhaps we should go back to the others, it's getting colder and-" Her phrase got cut in the middle when the roaring sound of fireworks broke the silence near the coast. At Chesedonia's pier, people begun to celebrate ten minutes earlier, perhaps by accident a pair of the firecrackers had set itself on and blew up in the sky. A bunch of lights and colors popped up in the sky and vanished after a few seconds. Tear's eyes watered from excitement as she held into her friend's arms. If Luke recalled correctly, this was indeed the first-time Tear ever saw fireworks. Yulia City's previous situation, being trapped under a dome to protect themselves against the miasma, never allowed this kind of entertainment.

"I think they won't miss us if we stay outside a little longer." Luke said, crossing his arm behind her back to bring her closer so she'd not get cold. He felt nervous, but he had to take some sort of advantage from Tear's amusement or she'd never be able to enjoy being this close her. "Tear… thanks."

"What for?" She asked without removing her eyes from the sky as a red firework exploded in the air, followed suit by a golden one.

"If it weren't for you, I don't know where would I be." He said with honesty, though it sounded awkward hearing those words come out of his mouth. He had to gather courage… he had to tell her, it was the perfect chance! "I'm so grateful that I've met you, really. I… I wanted to tell you that I-"

"Dummy. I told you I'd be there watching you…" Tear interrupted with a smile and turned around to face him. She kissed him on the left cheek and cuddled in his arm as they continued to glance at the colorful explosions.


	9. Cold

Sorey x Mikleo  
Tales of Zestira

"I think I'm going to freeze in here…" The young human said as his teeth clanked against each other. A snowstorm was about to come, but he decided to ignore Zenrus' advice and went to explore the ruins with Mikleo again. At least he should have listened the 'put on a sweater' part.

"It's not that cold and we're not that far away from home… come on, hurry! We'd better be back by dinner or Gramps is going to smack us with his pipe again!" The water seraph grabbed his friend's arms and pulled him uphill, after exciting the temple's main entrance

"You say so because you're a seraph, you don't actually suffer from the weather." Sorey complained, falling down to his knees. "I can barely move my feet, it's so cold."

Mikleo glanced down at him. He hadn't noticed how pale Sorey looked and how cold his skin was before touching his arm. His lips were turning blue and his hands had a bluish tone to them that worried the seraph deeply.

"This is going to be troublesome, I can't carry you back on my own." Mikleo said, latching an arm around his back. "You're going to have to try your best, Sorey."

"Yeah… thanks. We're not far away from the village, fortunately." He muttered, getting closer to Mikleo to get some warmth from the other boy's body. Even if he was a seraph, he still had a physical body, at least for Sorey the seraphim manifested themselves and proved to be as real as any other person. He'd always feel her neighbors' touch when they shook his hand or they patted him on the back, even when the children hugged him he could feel they had some sort of physiology that only a few were able to see.

"It'll not take long until it starts to snow. I'll… have to use it, if we want you to make it back to the village in one piece." Mikleo sulked and gulped.

"Gramps will understand… I'll go apologize after I can get a blanket and a hot soup. I'm sorry, Mikleo." He had this puppy-eyed glance on his face that always bothered and flustered Mikleo a lot. He had been like this since they were children, but now that they were both fully grown adults, it bothered Mikleo even more.

"Shut up. You'll have to pay me back, dumbass." The water seraph sighed and summoned his staff as he noticed the first flakes falling from the sky. "I just hope it doesn't attract any Hellions, if so, we're in big trouble, Sorey."

"Don't worry, the barrier is really strong… I don't think a single spell will bring them running to attack the village." Sorey answered with a goofy smile.

"Ok, then… can you stand?" Sorey nodded and managed to keep his balance.

Right afterwards, Mikleo brought the staff up in an horizontal position and began chanting a spell. a large circle of energy formed itself around the boy's feet and strong currents of air surrounded them both. Sorey glanced up at the sky, the clouds from the storm drifted away, back into the mountains where they came from. The spell wouldn't last long and Mikleo would need to rest for a while. It was still ridiculously cold, but Sorey felt he was able to move better, so he decided to keep on moving back to the to. Enveloping his friend were minuscule drops of water floating around his body, his hair flowed with the wind currents revealing the golden headband he wore beneath his bangs. wn. For a moment, Sorey felt his own breath being snatched away, even unable to grab his arm to make him move. It was because Mikleo's spell was astonishing to look at. Or perhaps, it was Mikleo himself.


	10. First Christmas

Tales of Graces  
Asbel x Cheria

The sopherias had withered earlier that year. A cold front had arrived and killed them before time, they'd usually lose all of their petals around half of the last month of the year, but at the time it was just the first days of it and the whole garden was completely covered by the flower's remains. It had been just like that first year Sophie had spent the holidays with them, almost five years ago. As Cheria inspected the barren ground around her with a saddened face, she felt a kind squeeze on her shoulder. Asbel loomed over her with a shy smile, and offered a hand to help her up.

"It's no good for you to be up this early in the morning out here." He hugged her, insisting to go back inside.

"I saw the garden from upstairs and I wanted to see what happened. It's so sad, Sophie is coming back tomorrow and she won't get to see them one last time this year, not until summer at least." She cried, getting inside the manor.

"I know… but it's no good for you and the baby, next time tell me and I'll go check on them. I think your grandpa may be able to do something about it, but for now Sophie will have to understand." Asbel walked towards the living room, insisting he'd have some time before going back to work to spend with her. After all, it was the first time in three years that the little rascal didn't wake up before them and they had some time for themselves.

It was incredible how similar Asbel and his daughter were to each other. When he was around Astrid's age, Asbel knew he was the cause of his father's constant headaches. He wished he'd be a better father to her and her still unborn little brother. At least, he believed he'd been a good father-figure to Sophie for the past five years, and Astrid hadn't turned out so bad. Their still unnamed child, Asbel hoped, better be a little more similar to his uncle Hubert or he'd go crazy if he had to take care of two mini-Asbels.

"Dear, you look lost in thought." Cheria laughed, caressing her belly to give the baby some warmth. She was due for the holidays, meaning they'd have another member at the table in the Lhant manor by Christmas dinner. Asbel hoped Pascal wouldn't do the same she did with Astrid during her first holidays: gifting a newborn a fighting robot wasn't a good idea.

"I was just thinking what's good to gift a little boy for Christmas. He'll be too young to get his first wooden sword, which is what Hubert and I always asked for." He smiled mischievously and remembered how fun it was to play with them on the first days of the years. Their parents would usually scold them for playing medieval knights at 6 in the morning.

"I'm asking myself the same thing… I wanted to gift him the sopherias, but they withered so fast. I had calculated he'd be born just a day before the cold got them but…"

"He has you as his mother, that's more than enough gift, I think." Asbel smiled, patting her hair with affection and fixing a pink lock from her bangs behind her ear. "I'm the one who has to win him over, or he'd end up a little punk like Astrid."

"You shouldn't be worrying about it or about Astrid, either." The lord of Lhant hugged his wife from the back and rested his chin on her shoulder. Cheria kept caressing her belly and hummed a lovely song in a very quiet voice. "This is the first time in four years everyone's coming for dinner, I think she'll like that. Our little boy will get to meet his uncle Hubert and Aunt Pascal, even Uncle Richard is coming. His step-sister Sophie is coming along with him, and they're dragging Grampa Malik along, I don't think we can get a better present for them."

Asbel smiled against the back of her neck and checked the clock on the wall. Just as he did, he heard Astrid's voice asking for breakfast as she walked fastly down the stairs, stomping her feet. He sighed and so did Cheria. Their minute of peace and silence had lasted for too long. Yet, Asbel felt reassured he had been doing a lot better than his father before him. For instance, he'd never been Cheria so beautiful and happy.


	11. Tradition

Jude/ Milla  
Tales of Xillia

Ever since she went into the Spirit Realm, Jude was only able to see Milla when she told him. He'd not complain, he just wished he would be able to go with her or that she'd stay just a little longer, though. But, as long as it wasn't possible for that to happen, he'd keep on working in ways to be with her.

The message for their next reunion arrived with one of Alvin's pigeons. They had discovered that the doves were actually capable of entering the Spirit Realm and send messages from one dimension to the other, perhaps it was something on their mana lobes or on their own spirit that made it possible. Jude caught the pigeon and took the small scroll from its paw. _Meet me in Nia Khera on the 11th of this month,_ it read with Milla's curly handwriting. Jude's heart beat faster, noticing he'd have to make the trip in just a couple of days if he wished to arrive on time. He answered the letter just to confirm with her, packed his things and ran to the station as fast as he could to catch a train to Trigleph and then a boat to Rieze Maxia as soon as possible.

Whatever she had done to him, it had been a terrible spell. He knew it. He was perfectly conscious that Milla had him wrapped around her finger, ready to bid to her wishes. In just a couple of hours he'd already boarded the ship and made his way to the town beyond the Kjara Falls, worried he might not make it in time. He had to meet her at her shrine, and he begged to Maxwell he'd not find Ivar on the way or he'd get the scolding of his life for being so imprudent with his master.

However, when he arrived, he received not one, but three great surprises the moment he set foot on the main gate: first one was that the town was completely decorated, each and every single house, road and barn had lights and flowers adorning the buildings. The second one was that everyone greeted him as if they were expecting him and invited the young doctor to celebrate with them the next night. And the third one was that Milla had arrived a day earlier.

His eyes widened as he saw her from the back, her long blonde hair blowing with the air and that unmistakeable bedhead floating amongst her golden locks. She was still taller than him and still wore a very flashy outfit, but this time it was completely white and she was barefooted. He was unable to contain his joy and screamed her name, making the Lord of Spirits to turn around to face him.

"Jude! I thought you'd be arriving tomorrow!"

"I got a boat immediately after I saw your message and I paid the coachman some extra money to get me to Kijara seafalls as fast as he could… I… it's so good to see you, Milla." He explained with a bright, exhilarating smile. Milla smiled back at him with as much eagerness as he did, glad they'd be able to spend more time together. The elder she'd been talking with coughed and insisted he'd take care of everything from then on. If Milla wished, she could take her guest back to the shrine, as apparently, they had a lot to catch on.

"Thank you." She said with an authoritative voice. "Make sure things are ready for tomorrow, please. Jude, would you follow me?" He agreed and walked behind her as they made their way to the shrine. The villagers bowed at them and opened the way to her usual resting place.

Once again, Jude was caught in surprise when Milla opened the door for him. The shrine was completely decorated with flowers and lights as the houses on town, but it had a lot of figurines made of clay on the inside. Jude took them and watched them carefully, each one was painted with a different color and he assumed each represented the Four Great Spirits and their subordinates. Of course, Milla and Maxwell were also portrayed in several of the figurines.

"It is a tradition in Nia Khera to create this votive statues around the end of the year. They assure protection over next year's harvest, the village,and its people, and the colors greatly please the inhabitants of the Spirit World." She explained, grabbing a red Efreet figurine. "Once the celebrations are over, they're destroyed. For example, Efreet's effigies are burnt and Undine's are thrown to the river."

"You've never told me about it." Jude said with amazement and a large smile on his face. "It's… wonderful."

"I wanted you to see it with your own eyes and I wanted you to join me this year. Tomorrow night is the town's biggest party. There's drinks and music and people dance until the next dawn. I… I've never joined the celebrations." Milla admitted,sitting on her throne with her legs crossed. Jude walked towards the throne and knelt before her, resting his arms in one of her legs. Over time, they'd grown very intimate, but it always showed he felt some kind of blind devotion towards Milla, besides mere attraction to her.

"You want to participate this year, don't you?"

"Will you come with me?"

"You know I can't say no to you."

And so, the next evening the villagers borrowed him a white tunic and adorned his body with painting and flowers. They adorned Milla as well, but her decorations were a lot more complicated than his. It was the first time the Lord of Spirits celebrated along with her followers, so they'd made sure this would be the biggest party they'd ever held. Colors splashed on them as they danced at the light of the bonfire and the air smelt of burnt flowers and fruits. Jude drank like he'd never drank before ever since he became of age and he noticed the beverages didn't have any effect on Milla. Perhaps her spiritual link had become so great she was no longer affected by such human mishaps. They danced and danced, but nobody around them seemed to care. their bacchanal had grown so much that even Lord Maxwell had become one with her people. Nobody even seemed to notice when Jude Mathis finally stole a kiss from her.


	12. Date Night

Yuri x Flynn  
Tales of Vesperia

Flynn arrived earlier that evening, earlier than expected, at least. The sight that greeted him was the one as per usual, but it made him angry anyway. Yuri opened a lazy eye to glance at him, demanding he closed the door to stop the cold for coming into the apartment. The blonde man rolled his eyes as he took his coat and scarf off from his shoulders, but he was clearly pissed at his partner.

"What's up? Why are you home at this hour?" Yuri asked, resuming his nap as he patted idly at Repede's head.

"Have you seen this dumpster?! Weren't you supposed to clean, take out the trash and do the laundry? Is this too much to ask of you?!" He scolded, ignoring Yuri's question.

"Yeah, yeah… you were supposed to be home in three hours, I planned to do all that in just an hour and a half… which means I still have time to nap, so please be quiet." Yuri rested his head on his arms and shoved the dog to move, who whimpered and growled at him. Flynn hissed angrily, but didn't add anything else. Yuri was able to hear him stumbling furiously towards the kitchen and just some seconds afterwards, an orchestra of dishes clanking and water running from the sink filled the apartment.

"You know... it's becoming impossible to put up with you." Yuri said after a few minutes, throwing a wet towel at Yuri's face. He got startled, but Flynn knew he was goofing out and not actually napping. "This ain't working and I'm afraid I won't be as patient as I always am."

"Are you going to throw me out?" Yuri asked without his usual mocking tone.

"You don't pay rent and you don't seem to be looking out for a job. You don't help with the chores and you leave the place looking like a warzone… what do you want me to do?"

"... Ok, I get it, you're done. Come on, Repede, let's get our things."

"Yuri, wait…" He took his arm before his friend stormed out of the house. Indeed, he was a slum and he didn't make his living any easier. But Flynn was anything but a bad friend. He knew Yuri was in need, and his usual laziness got potentially worse when he grew desperate. Flynn sighed and pulled him closer by force, hugging his partner tight. "Let's clean together."

"What's with the sudden mood swing?" Yuri mocked, embracing him nonchalantly with just one arm.

"I know you're a mess. I know you don't like doing housework and I know life's not easy for you after two times in jail this year. So… I shouldn't be getting THAT angry at you."

"I guess I should try putting some effort." Yuri admitted, scratching his head and the back of Repede's ears at the same moment. "I'm sorry."

"How's about we clean and put some laundry and then I make us dinner? They gave me a couple of days off from the headquarters, so I guess I'll use them to put you in line and actually spend some time with you." Flynn admitted maybe he had been neglecting his relationship. Perhaps it wasn't helping Yuri's situation at all.

"You mean like training or like a date night?" He chuckled, punching the blonde in the arm.

"A little bit of both." Flynn admitted, fixing Yuri's shirt as he spoke. "Then, when we're done we could actually put some nice Christmas lights and enjoy some hot cocoa in bed, then we could go skiing tomorrow and take Repede with us…"

"Jeez, stop pampering me so much, we sound like an old married couple." Yuri laughed, picking up the trash and throwing it into the bin after he got away from the young soldier. "Cleaning and dinner is good by me, if you want to put on some lights it's fine, it's your place, but… we'll see. You're a workaholic so I must assume you'll jump back into service tomorrow morning."

"Ok, fine. Just dinner, then."

"... I didn't say no, though."


	13. Northern Lights

Hisui x Lithia  
Tales of Hearts

"When you were little, you loved to watch these with Kohaku."Litha's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned around to find the emerald-haired beauty walking towards him. It almost looked like she didn't walk touching the ground, but as if she glided across the snow-covered ground.

"Yeah, Aurora Borealis only happen around this time of the year, on especially cold nights. It is said the great spirits come dance on earth when the lights touch the sky, trying to reach the ground." Hisui explained, making space for the woman to sit besides him. She fixed her dress and crossed her legs carefully.

"Actually, it's the collision of light particles against gases that form on the magnetic poles of the planet…" She explained with a cold, calculating voice, but she changed her behavior immediately and glanced at the sky. "But, indeed, they're wonderful. I'm glad I've gotten to see them with my own eyes. Looking at them through your sister's wasn't bad but… the experience is a lot better if you get to live it."

"Sure thing. I'm glad you're around to see it, too." Hisui brushed off her scientific explanation. He wasn't a superstitious man, but he liked to leave some sort of magical reasoning to things every once in awhile. "This used to be our family tradition, do you remember? I kinda wished Kohaku would come with me tonight but… Shing has been dragging all of the attention."

"It's normal to feel jealous." Lithia assured him with a gentle smile. Hisui laughed, telling her it was all he had been doing for the past months. Ever since Shing appeared, everything had gone downhill and he was unable to stop things from crumbling down before his eyes. Life as he knew it had changed and there was no coming back. "What I meant to say is that you should be a lot more honest with your feelings."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When was the last time you told your sister you loved?" She stared at him with those big, profound green eyes of hers that captivated him so much. The lights behind her emphasized them so much they almost became mesmerizing."Have you ever told Shing how you feel about him and Kohaku? Have you ever thanked Gall and Ines for taking care of everyone? Even Beryl and Kunzite, do you ever talk to them without covering things up with anger?"

Hisui opened his eyes in amazement, but then he glanced away, slightly flustered and angry she was always so inquiring and she always sounded so condescending when talking to him, as if he was a child. Well, in all honesty, he was like a child compared to her. Maybe she knew better and he should listen to her more often.

"What am I supposed to tell them? My sis, for example… leave your boyfriend and come see the lights with me?" He snorted, fixing his goggles atop of his head. "It's too childish."

"Then say it like an adult."

"..." Hisui gulped. She was right. "Sis, I love you. I would like you to come see the lights with me as we always did… why don't you bring Shing with us this time?" He practiced, making Lithia smile widely. Hisui acknowledged swallowing his pride wasn't easy, but she recognized he'd try to do it. Lithia told him it would be the best thing to do, showing how mature he had turned.

"You may not believe this, but I've seen you grown so much during these past months… I'm so proud of you and I'm so happy I've got to spend more time with you, and Kohaku and all the others. "Lithia said, resting her head on his shoulders as they watched the flickering lights. "When this is all over, I'll remember all of this… I'll keep tonight's memories so close to my heart…"

"I love you." Hisui blurted out, without making eye contact with her. Lithia turned her face around, startled by his sudden confession. He breathed deeply, completely flustered as he tried to utter his next words "You asked me to be sincere, so I guess I'll start by telling you how I feel about you… about us. For these past moments together, I've… always had. And now, even without my sister here… I couldn't be happier to be watching the Northern Lights with you." He breathed deeply again, turning around to see her wide-open emerald eyes. "I love you."


	14. Family Time

Kratos x Anna  
Tales of Symphonia

Kratos rarely got scared. He didn't remember when had it been the last time he genuinely felt his life threatened, unless it involved Mithos, which had happened many years ago. However, that evening, Kratos swore he had never cowered so much in his life.

"Darling…" He spoke, approaching Anna carefully. His wife cooked dinner for them as she hummed a cheerful song, unaware of the mess her husband had gotten himself into. She turned around slowly and her smile vanished in an instant, the moment she saw Kratos' grimace. "Please, don't get angry…"

"What happened?" She asked, worried.

"I… I can't find Lloyd." Anna turned off the oven and rushed towards him with the deadliest glare in her face. Martel helped him get away from the wrath of an anguished mother.

"He's a toddler, how is it even possible you don't know where he is?" Anna wondered, shoving Kratos aside the moment she noticed he looked incredibly vulnerable. For being an all-mighty entity, he was pretty much useless whenever he had to do a normal, mundane task. "I asked you to play with him until the turkey and the gravy was ready, what did you do?"

Kratos explained they'd been playing with Lloyd's toys in the living room, beneath the tree, and even if the boy insisted on opening his gifts, his father had refused each and everytime. After some minutes, Lloyd seemed to have calmed down and decided it was better to play on his own, so Kratos took a book and sat on the couch to read for a while until dinner was ready.

"Don't take your eyes off of him, he's a very unruly child." Anna scolded him and began roaming the living room like a wild beast searching for prey. Kratos apologized and helped her look around, but the baby was nowhere to be found. Just how good was a three years old at playing hide-and-seek? "you said he insisted on opening his presents, right?"

"Y-yes…" Kratos admitted, embarrassed he had to put her through all of this.

"I know where he is." She assured, walking towards their bedroom with a steady but decided pace. Kratos followed right behind her with his head held low. She opened the closet to find a messy-haired boy trying to rip his presents' wrapping, with little accomplishments made so far. "Oh, here you are, honey!"

Anna carried him in her arms and removed the gifts from Lloyd's hands, tossing them to Kratos. The man placed them on a higher level, so that he'd not reach even if he ran away again. Lloyd complained, but after some minutes of his mother making funny faces at him, he began laughing and seemed to forget he had even tried to steal the presents.

"Dear, I'm so sorry." Kratos apologizing, asking her to give the baby to him with a gesture from his hands. Anna complied and handed Lloyd to him, who latched his small arms around his daddy's neck. The brunette noticed his eyes were watery and that he had turned so vulnerable that he almost didn't look like himself. She smiled kindly and grabbed his cheek, vanishing the tears from the corner of his eyes with her thumb. Kratos leaned towards her hand and smiled, feeling guilty still.

"Just be more careful next time, ok? I don't want to lose either of my boys, not when mommy's Superb Christmas Turkey is about to be served!" She exclaimed, pinching one cheek of each of laughed loudly and Kratos chuckled with a hushed voice.

He was so grateful to have her in his life. After a millenia of tragedies and solitude, Anna Irving was truly a blessing made by the heavens themselves.


	15. Wishlist

Rita x Estellise  
Tales of Vesperia

It wasn't that hard of a task to do, but Rita couldn't place her thoughts straight into the piece of paper before her. Her friends seemed to be doing pretty good, all of them had already written down two or three requests to their holiday and new year's wish lists, but her list was still completely blank. Perhaps she could ask for a new spell book, or a new sash, but she didn't feel like she needed any of it.

They weren't doing a Secret Santa this year, instead they were going to write a wishlist and everyone was to give each other something, within their monetary possibilities or their crafting experience. For that same reason, it was perhaps Estelle the only one capable of gifting something to everyone while all the others were just comfortable enough sharing dinner the last day fo the year. It had been the princess' idea, anyway. After too much insisting from her part, everyone decided to concede and write down their wishlist.

Rita glanced over Karol's shoulder, who was writing furiously his seventh item on the list: a new bag, a new sword, a new hammer, a new ax, a new helmet, a necklace for Nan and lastly one of those new toys they had been selling at Nordopolica the past month. How predictable. Judith, who sat besides her, had only written two options in her carefully traced handwriting, but she was knocking her pencil against the table as if she was considering a third option. Oil to clean Ba'ul's scales, spear wasn't being useful either.

From the other side of the table, she managed to glance at Yuri's list: Braid my hair. Be my partner punching Flynn in the face. A new collar for Repede. At least he was being a little bit more creative. On Raven's list: new arrow set, archery gloves. Written but marked down with a straight line said 'a kiss from a pretty lady' and right below it said 'Judy', also scratched down. At least the old man was being realistic. But, alas, none of them were helping. Estellise had finished her 16-item long list around fifteen minutes ago, and the short haired princess walked around the room cheerfully. Rita stood up, none of her friends paid attention to her. She needed a better opinion.

"Rita! how's your list going?"

"Badly." She answered bluntly, showing her the blank paper. "I have no idea what to write in here."

"Hmmm, what would you like to do with them? If you don't want any new things you could ask for a fun day with your friends!" Estelle smiled widely and showed her the list she'd written down. Go shopping with Judith. Walk Repede with Yuri. Attend official conference with Raven (Schwann's name had been written and erased, Rita could tell). Go star-gazing with Karol. Dance lessons from Flynn. Girl's night with…

"You want to have a sleepover with me?"

"Yeah! a girl's night out… I guess we could ask Judith if she wants to join, but I sorta want to spend it alone with you." Did she even know how different it sounded when she spoke it out loud? Rita believed she didn't and she was obviously unaware of the things she did to her when she said things like that. "You know? I think it'd be like those days we spent at the palace when you were trying to figure out what to do with my blastia. Even if you were reading all the time, I had a lot of fun brushing your hair and painting your nails, and such things…"

"Y-yes, those were kinda fun." Rita stammered, closing her eyes with embarrassment. "But… I'm not used to do all those girly things."

"Ohk, it's so much better, I can teach you!" Rita blushed widely when Estelle hugged her. "We can practice those and I can read you some of the fairy tales I've been writing lately. I'm… still reluctant to show it to them, I'm really self-conscious about my writing."

"Hey, you'll be a fabulous storyteller, you just have to practice." she cheered her up and an idea sparkled into her mind. "Hey, Estelle, is there a chance I can keep part of my list private?"

"I guess it's alright, do it as a gift from yourself, then!"

"Yeah, thanks. I… I'll go write them down." Estellise waved at her cheerfully, hoping she had helped the young mage with her task. Rita sighed as she sat apart from her friends and took the pencil with resolved fingers: Girl night with Estelle. Yuri teaching me to talk to people. Buying gifts with Raven. Fashion help from Judith. A hug from Repede. One of Karol's mighty pats in the back. Manners lessons from Flynn. A kiss from… Rita stopped writing. She'd keep that part for herself.


	16. Mistletoe

Zelos x Lloyd x Sheena  
Tales of Symphonia

He was just being his annoying self, Sheena repeated to herself like a mantra after ten minutes had passed with Zelos walking behind her with a mistletoe decoration hanging from his headband. The red-haired idiot had set his puppy-eyed face on, and tried to start a conversation with her as if she'd not have noticed his true intentions from the very beginning. He was just being his usual, annoying, stupid self. Sheena just had to ignore him.

"Sheeeeenaaaa!" He cried, noticing his attempts to make her give in had been in vain. "Come on, stop ignoring me, you know what it is you have to do when two people are standing below mistletoe!"

"Seriously? Now you're even trying to beg?! If you even tried hard you'd do better than this, you idiot." She answered angrily, being careful enough not to step below him or he'd snatch a kiss as soon as she blinked.

"That means there's still a chance! I have found my New Year's Resolution! Make Sheena fall for me!" He screamed, pissing the dark-haired ninja greatly. If he only shut his mouth for a second, perhaps he'd be making some progress on that. Sheena had to admit she'd always liked that guy, no matter how annoying Zelos was, his looks and his charisma made her eyes drift towards him every once in awhile. However, for the past year someone else had made her heart aflutter whenever their eyes met or their hands grazed each other. Perhaps she should be setting a New Year's Resolution just like Zelos and gather up enough courage to confess her feelings to the airheaded swordsman sooner than later.

"Shut up, you idiot!" She screamed, smacking him on the back of the head. "Keep your resolutions to yourself!"

"Oww! that hurt!"

"What's all this commotion?" Lloyd's voice asked, and the boy clad in red clothes appeared from behind the kitchen's door. _Speak of the devil_ , Sheena though. He was finishing cleaning the dishes at Raine's house, while the Professor was away buying gifts with Regal for the holidays. Genis and Colette built snowmen outside with Presea, who was doing all the heavy work throwing the snowballs with ease.

"Zelos is being an idiot, as usual!"

"Are you done with the chores? Professor Sage won't be happy if we leave her house messy." Lloyd asked, worried.

"Yes, I was just taking the garbage out, but another piece of trash stuck to my shoe, as you can see." Sheena pointed at Zelos angrily, directly at his forehead where the mistletoe hanged.

"Come on, aren't you old enough to be playing like that? I imagined Genis would try something like that with Presea, but you...? no, now that I think about it, that's just what you'd do."

"Lloyd, that hurts too." Zelos said, a blank expression on his face denoted his despair.

"You deserve it for being an idiot."

"Come on, man, tell Sheena it's a tradition, she has to do it! She and I have been standing beneath mistletoe for the whole evening, we have to smooch!" Zelos exclaimed, shaking his hips with eagerness.

"Hmmm… he's right, it's a tradition. Here in Aselia people usually do it with no complains." Lloyd explained, he even said they usually did it within family members, though it turned into a peck on the cheek.

"Now you're siding with him?!" Sheena scolded Lloyd, disappointed she didn't have his support.

"Yeah, kinda. But…" Lloyd eyed at Zelos with a serious stare and stepped up below the taller man. To both Zelos and Sheena's surprise, he snatched a kiss from Zelos' lips and smiled mischievously. Sheena gasped deeply and Zelos spit after Lloyd walked back. He removed the apron he had been wearing with a confident smirk on his face.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Zelos asked, confused and completely flustered from tip to toe. Sheena couldn't tell if his hair or his face was tinted a darker shade of red.

"I've been standing beneath the mistletoe for five minutes already." Lloyd shrugged, laughing at Zelos' reaction. "It was only right."

The red-haired swordsman kept his eyes open wide and moved away quickly, throwing the mistletoe away from his headband. He backed down and rushed to complete his chores, without bothering Sheena at all during the rest of the evening and not saying even a single word to Lloyd for what's left of the week.

"W-why did you do that?!" Sheena asked, more startled than actually bothered.

"I knew he'd not like having his own joke played on him" Lloyd shrugged as if nothing had happened. "Don't think I actually like kissing guys around, but if it's for helping a friend, I'd do it. Just don't get used to it."

"T-thanks, I guess?!"

"Now, let's put this here, we might get some laughs out of it when the Professor and Regal return or even when Genis and Presea come back inside." He hung the mistletoe from one of the dangling decorations on the main entrance of the house.

"H-hey, Lloyd." She stopped him when he was about to return to the kitchen. She pointed at the ceiling, where the newly placed mistletoe dangled. Lloyd smiled, he had been aware of Sheena's feelings for a while, but he was glad she managed to come to terms with it, in her own shy and cute way. He leaned down and placed his hands on her waist, but he didn't kiss her. He smirked again, enjoying to see Sheena's flustered expression as she doubted if she should kiss him or not. In some things, Zelos and her were so very similar it was almost funny.


	17. Costumes

Malik x Victoria  
Tales of Graces  
Note: Slight mature themes.

* * *

Major Victoria wasn't known for having the most open and straightforward humor. She was a serious and stern woman, a cool and collected soldier, respected and feared by most of her students. Whoever thought of this surely had a very dark sense of humor or a severe death wish. For some reason she didn't understand, King Richard had petitioned her and Captain Malik for a favor: to brighten Sophie's first Christmas, after everything that happened with Lambda and Fodra. Victoria had initially refused, but after a lot of guilt-ridding her and twisting her arm, she accepted. She only had to help Malik on a stage presentation about the holiday tales that were told in Fendel and Windor, nothing more. She wouldn't even be acting as such, she'd just be a prop actor with a nice elven costume. It shouldn't be much of a problem, Malik would be doing most of the complicated and, from Victoria's point of view, the embarrassing parts.

She flinched when she opened the box that contained her costume, as it didn't have the traditional elf suit that was usually used in holiday plays. No, instead, there was a very scarce outfit that consisted of only a bright golden bra, a green mini skirt, a white felt hat and over-the-knee white stockings. She moved her hands inside of the package, trying to find the rest of her outfit, but there was none left but a pair of golden high heels and… was that a thong?!

"MALIK!" She screamed, stepping dangerously towards his office with a large blush on her face. "Is this your idea of a joke?!"

"What's wrong?" He asked with a concerned voice. Victoria rarely stormed into his quarters, nor did she raise her voice unless she was extremely angry. "Oh, the costumes have arrived!"

"Yes, I'd like to know what's with mine that's all lewd and gaudy!" She demanded, showing the package to him. Malik didn't even touch it, but looked at her with even more concern than before.

"Wait a minute, please." He asked politely and rushed to ask the guard if another package had come in for him that evening. The man handed him a box, which he opened back at his office where the blonde woman kept waiting for him. "Ugh, seems there was a mistake with the orders." He said, as he unpacked a male bunny outfit, not the magician coat he had asked for. Those were only a pair of tight black pants with a fluffy tail attached to the back, a pair of handcuffs and the neck with its bow neatly tied. along came a pair of bunny ears, but nothing else.

"I guess I should not be getting mad at you, then." The woman composed herself back again and placed her box atop of Malik's.

"No, it must have been an error, I'll make sure to call the store." He sighed, but then a smile crept up his face. "I wonder, though… what could have arrived at Richard's palace?"

Victoria remained silent, but then she cracked a smile and a chuckle. As far as she knew, Richard would be taking the role of an ancient hero on his golden armor. She imagined he'd only get the sword and the golden helmet, and nothing else.

"Now, it'd be a shame…" Victoria muttered, inspecting Malik's costume up close with a sly smirk. Her tone was completely different, and Malik loved the look she had on her eyes. She could be just as nasty as the costume she had just received if she felt like it. "... if we had to actually return these without using them first."

* * *


	18. Gift Wrapping

Jude & Elize  
Tales of Xillia

* * *

Jude knew, for the moment he entered the Sharil manor, that they shouldn't have left the tedious chore of wrapping gifts for the last minute. Just how many presents had Elize and Rowen bought for their friends and how many more did Driselle add to the pile were simply untraceable by mere sight. Jude sighed, of all people he had to be the one to agree to help on this madness. Leia was busy tending the Inn and somehow she had dragged Alvin into it. Rowen was off to business with Gaius again, and Muzet and Milla wouldn't come until the date they told them to hold the dinner. Elle had gone on a picnic with Driselle and they even insisted Elize went along with them, but the girl, noticing in how big of a trouble they were, decided to stay behind.

"I can't back off now, right?" Jude asked, scratching his neck as he tried to count how many gifts were piled up on the living room.

"No, I really need your help!" Elize exclaimed, desperate. "I don't even have enough wrapping paper and tape to do this, what are we going to do?!"

"Perhaps gift one thing to each instead of 20? How is Leia even going to use four staves this year? One is just fine, we can send some of the items back to the shops or store them until further notice."

"These are not only my gifts, you know? Rowen, Driselle and Elle also piled theirs in there."

"Then why are you the only one wrapping them?!" Jude asked, mostly concerned because all of them had thought of buying Leia staves, and she'd not be pleased about it. It made five staves with Jude's present. He was still on time to turn it back and get her something else, fortunately.

"I offered myself, I know I shouldn't have!" She cried, regretting every decision she'd made that week.

"That's what happens when you're so kind to others, Elize~" Teepo's voice interrupted, the puppet floated towards its owner and bounced on her shoulder.

"Teepo! Shouldn't you be on a box in my room?"

"You panicked and you know I bounce up whenever you're in distress." Teepo opened up its eyes and smiled widely, with that creepy smile of his. "Hello, Jude! It's been a while! here, let me give you a big smooch!" The puppel flew through the air and wrapped it's maw on Jude's face, who only saw black for a few seconds until Elize caught Teepo back.

"Good to see you too, Teepo." Jude blushed, knowing those were actually Elize's repressed thoughts, which she couldn't obviously control. "Now, we should get our hands on this or we're never going to finish. We'll find a way to wrap it all, don't worry."

"Yeah! with Teepo by your side, we'll end up within the blink of an eye!" The puppet exclaimed, leading the way to the pile of gifts and catching one of them with its mouth. He floated into the tea table and waited for Elize and Jude to catch up.

And so, the worked non-stop for two hours straight until Jude's fingers were numb for cutting tape and paper and Elize's hands were filled with a couple of small and itchy papercuts. Teepo had even fallen silent after the first hour for the tedious job it was, its voice only served to out Elize's discomfort. She offered to take a break with some tea and cookies, and while she moved in the kitchen preparing their meal, Jude continued wrapping the gifts carefully. Teepo moved along with her, so he was left alone for some minutes.

He grabbed a small box that read 'from Elize to Jude', and he almost felt tempted to open it before time. He could tell the package was being reused for something else, but he assumed she must have made it herself, since the other gifts for their other friends had been bought and they were brand new. He looked at the box, which had been covered with a bright blue paper and he even shook it a little bit in an attempt to hear what its content sounded like.

"Oh no!" Elize said, blushing. She almost let the tray fall off her hands. "Y-you weren't supposed to see that yet!"

"I didn't open it." Jude excused himself, but Elize rushed and removed the box from his hands in panic.

"N-no, I… I wasn't sure if I should give this to you or not, so… I had a back-up plan, j-just in case." She showed him a neatly wrapped-up present that looked like it could be a book.

"Why?" Jude asked, genuinely curious about her reasons.

"W-well…" He saw Teepo approaching, opening its mouth as if he were to scream out loud Elize's feelings, but Jude signaled him to keep silent. Teepo's eyes widened, but the puppet nodded and floated back, trembling with anticipation. "I… I wanted to do something special just for you because… because…"

"You don't have to tell me if you're not ready." Jude smiled, patting her head as he leaned down to her height. "When you're sure of yourself and you don't feel scared anymore, I'll be here to listen."

"O-ok…" Elize said, nodding with a very cute blush on her cheeks. "I want you to have this, then." She handed him the package. "But please, read the note when you're on your own."

"Sure thing, Elize. Thank you very much." Jude said as he unwrapped the present and found a decoration for his new reading glasses, he noticed Elize had picked the beads and the thread really carefully, thinking of him the whole time. Below the decorations was a small scroll of parchment, tightly rolled and secured with a red string. Jude smiled. He had never imagined he'd be receiving a love letter for Christmas.


	19. Home-made Presents

Richard & Sophie  
Tales of Graces

* * *

Who knew Richard would be so good at knitting? Sophie stared in awe as the king of Windor moved the thick pink thread with his hands, not even using the knitting needles Pascal had gifted them. He turned his fingers swiftly and tied knots with ease, never making a single mistake.

"Ah, it doesn't look good, does it?" THe blonde man asked, self-conscious about his work. Sophie stared at him in silent disbelief. "What? Oh, no, Sophie, this isn't as good as it can get, it's sloppy. Look, the thread is very loose around here, but it's tight right on the next part. The design you chose isn't even similar to this."

"It's really good" sophie said, taking the wooly scarf on her hands and caressing it against her cheek. "Richard is very good at handcrafts."

"I'm quite fond of it." He admitted, taking the scarf back and undoing his previous work. "It was my mother's hobby and she taught me some of it, it's really fun. Would you like to try?"

Sophie nodded and received a long piece of yarn that Richard instructed to tangle around her forearms, grabbing one of the strings with her middle fingers and the tip of her thumbs. He then told her to cross them over twice, then she'd have to pull the left side of the string with her pinky. Confused, Sophie made a mess of herself and the ball of yarn she had been holding. After three more attempts, the purple haired girl decided it was best to give it up before ruining the materials they had.

"Hmm it's no good, you need a lot more practice to get it right and we have to finish everyone's presents by next week. Hmmm… perhaps you could help me while I work on them myself."

"That'd be a lot better." Sophie said, asking what would she be helping with. Richard stood from the sofá and handed her an even bigger ball of yarn. He began tangling it all over her arms, up to her elbows.

"I wanted to make long scarves for everyone, so I'll need you to hold the thread while I do it. You also have to tell me if you see the pattern is getting loose or too tight, ok?" sophie nodded and watched in awe as Richard concentrated once again and began to knit at an incredible quick pace. Her arms began to feel stiff after a few minutes, so Richard told her to sit down and relax her arms before he proceed. Once she felt renewed, he continued and finished the first scarf in no time.

"The red one's for Pascal, now let's make a blue one for Hubert, a pink one for Cheria and a green one for Asbel. I think Captain Malik may like a royal purple one, but we're going to need someone to fetch us that color." He explained, removing the remains of the red thread and placing the blue one on its stead.

"What color would you like yours, Richard?"

"I wasn't planning on giving myself one, you know?" He shrugged. "I don't usually gift myself things."

"Then make one for me." Sophie insisted as he began working on the second scarf.

"I already planned on that, dear Sophie." He said, carefully fixing a mistake he had made. "Which color would you like?"

"I like burgundy."

"Burgundy it is, then."

"Richard, can I ask for something?" Richard looked at her, confused. It was really unlikely of Sophie to ask for anything when it came to receiving gifts. She was a very humble and giving girl, not the other way around. "Can we make it super extra large?"

"Sure, but why?" He asked, stopping on his chore to look at her.

"I want to wear it when I'm with you, so it has to be very long so we can wrap ourselves with it, don't you think?" She said, with not a single drop of embarrassment or shyness in her voice. Richard's blood froze on his veins as he stared at her and then proceeded to blush violently. Sophie could be so cute without even noticing from time to time.


	20. Hot Beverages

Ludger & Alt!Milla  
Tales of Xillia 2

* * *

"Ludger can do much better than you." Elle's squeaky voice said, as Milla brought them a cup of tea for each one.

"I bet he can", the blonde woman snorted with sarcasm, receiving a sorrowful expression from the young man. "But for now, you'll have to live with this, you runt."

"Tea is booooooring." She said, drinking it and scalded her mouth immediately. "Ahh I can't drink this, is too hot!"

"That's what happens when you're not nice to the people bringing you food and letting you sleep on their house." Milla scolded her, blowing the steam away from Elle's cup until it was just warm enough for her to drink it without hurting herself.

Ludger excused himself and insisted the tea was delicious, but Elle kept insisting that he would be able to make a much more enjoyable drink that didn't necessarily burnt the entire place or that tasted like watered grass.

"You're being specially rude today, you know?" Milla said, as she felt a vein popping in her temple. "Do you want to hold a competition or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea, and you would actually do your best." Elle dared her, pulling Rollo from its paws until the cat sat on her lap and began falling asleep on the girl's legs.

"It's so easy for you to say, you're not cooking anything, ever. It's always Ludger or me, but you always end up crossing your arms and wait to act like a sommelier or something."

"Somme-what?!" Elle asked, confused.

"Ugh, nothing! Forget about it. Then, what would our contest be about, Miss Mel Marta?"

"I want something sweet! Make it a hot chocolate contest!" She insisted, jumping from excitement.

"Well then, Ludger, what do you say? Shall we get going?"

The black-and-white haired boy nodded and stood from his crouching position, following Milla down to the kitchen. She explained she had the basic ingredients, but if he wanted to surprise the young girl, he'd have to get creative with the few resources they had in hand. Ludger apologized once again, his daughter's attitude was indeed the worst possible during the past days. Milla smiled and poked his nose with a finger full of whipped cream.

"She's a child who just discovered she has a very sweet dad, I wouldn't blame her for entering a rebellious phase." Ludger smiled at the compliment and blushed slightly, removing the cream from his nose with one finger, then he licked it off. Milla handed him the milk so that they could begin their silly contest. They fooled around with the ingredients and toyed with each other in an attempt to ruin each other's dish, while the girl played with the sleepy cat on Milla's living room. Once they finished, they presented their drinks to Elle, nicely served in large mason jars.

The girl's hands grabbed Ludger's first, who looked proud of the results even if his face was a complete chocolatey mess. Milla had smeared the melting chocolate on his cheek while he waited for it to cool down, and she had received a whipped cream slap in return. Elle discovered Ludger had used the molten chocolate over the milk and used barely any cream to add some flavor. He apparently used some vanilla extract and ground strawberries to give it an special, napolitan touch, but the blend hadn't come quite as perfect as it usually did. Perhaps if he had used less vanilla, it wouldn't have taken the chocolate's intensity away.

"I don't think you can do better, Milla!" Elle bluffed, even if she knew that might not be the case. She winked at her cheerfully. "But let's see how yo do."

Elle took a sip from the beverage, which surprisingly had the taste and texture of a milkshake, but it was warm as a coffee. She had sprinkled the whipped cream atop of it with more chocolate, but she had also ground some cookies, which made the drink a lot more delightful and sweet. The liquid part had no molten chocolate as Ludger had, instead, she had infused the milk with it as she heated it down and apparently added a few drops of honey to the mix instead of sugar.

"What's the verdict, officer?" Milla teased, already knowing the answer.

"Hmp. I guess Ludger needs to practice quite a bit. But don't flatter yourself yet, I bet he's still better at making tea." She said with a severe voice, which made Ludger chuckle a bit.

"Guess he'll have to teach me how to do it, then." Milla smiled a mischievous grin.

* * *


	21. Christmas Candy

Ion & Anise  
Tales of the Abyss

* * *

"Hey, Anise… I know this may be a strange request, but I wanted to ask you something." The Fon Master asked. The girl wearing pink clothes turned around from her resting position on the ground, where she was coloring some diagrams, and looked at him confused. Ion rarely asked for favors. "I want you to teach me how to cook."

"That's indeed unusual coming from you, Ion." Anise answered, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "But I cannot refuse a request coming from you. What would you like to learn?"

"The children on the orphan's house will be having a Christmas dinner sometime soon. My predecessor usually spent said evening with them and gifted them candies, so I thought I'd do the same. The cantors at the orphanage usually prepare the entire dinner, but a patron brings the desserts."

"Oh… so we're taking some Christmas candy to the children. That's really nice of you! I'll be glad to help!"

The dinner would be three days from then, Anise had more than enough time to teach him how to make some gingerbread cookies and a large chocolate cake for them, but they had to get all the ingredients first. Ion had always been stubborn enough to do things himself instead of relying on others; to the Order's dismay, he loved breaking the rules and going out to the market frequently. Even if Anise was his guardian, she was more than often his accomplice. The girl managed to get him out that morning, running down through one of the multiple corridors of Daath's cathedral when she knew no other of the maestros would be roaming around. She knew it was dangerous, Ion's health wasn't the best and keeping him moving around only raised the chances of another issue. Worried, Anise stopped dashing through just as they were about to get to the outskirts of the town when she heard Ion's agitated breathing.

"Oh, no… I'm sorry, Ion, I shouldn't have pushed you to do this much. I can go for the ingredients myself and I'll see you later." She excused herself, but Ion shook his head in disagreement.

"No, it's fine. None of the maestros come around here, we can go slowly now. Besides, I want to see the market myself, I've not gone in quite sometime. I wonder how much it's changed." He had the most curious look on his eyes that Anise felt captivated by them. She smiled and nodded, but she instructed him to tell her if anything went wrong or even to go back without even warning beforehand. Ion agreed and he followed the young girl into the cathedral town. It was as noisy as per usual, partially because of the vendors and partially because of all the amateur preachers that screamed in name of the Score in every corner of the city.

"Hmmm, I actually know of a place you may like, we can go there after we get the ingredients." She thought, covering Ion's head with his coat's hood, so that he'd not be so easily noticed by others. Ion looked at her with curiosity and nodded, following the taller girl through the alleyways. They walked past several weapon and item shops, but Anise knew the food sellers were at the back of the market, so she'd have to rush him through all the people and the stalls before reaching their destination.

Ion seemed marveled by all the colors, the sounds and smells surrounding him, and it made Anise wonder if she should bring him out more often. She also knew his time on this earth was limited, because all of the men from his lineage had a very short lifespan because of their frail health, almost considered a curse by some. Perhaps he should be able to enjoy the simple things like going shopping, hearing the bards on the street singing, chasing the street mutts as they play with each other, or even enjoying the bite of a fresh apple without having to go through all the other Maestos' approval first.

Anise bought all the ingredients while Ion observed some children crafting flower crowns and braiding one of the little girl's hair. They noticed he had been watching all along and invited him over, and Anise insisted him to go. She'd catch up later, and she had to keep an eye on him in case any ill-intentioned adult noticed that the Fon Master had been playing around with commoner kids. She picked some flour, sugar and eggs, as well as some new cookie cutters, then bought some chocolate bars, both for the cake and for their enjoyment. Ion wasn't allowed to eat candy, but she always liked to sneak some of her own for him to taste. She was sure he'd like it.

"Anise! over here!" Ion said as she carried the bags. He approached and took some of the packages from her hands. His smile was so radiant Anise almost felt her heart melt with joy. "Are we done?"

"We? I'm the one who's been running around, you know?" Ion seemed saddened, but she poked his cheek and smiled. "Don't worry, Ion, it's fine. You don't get to enjoy these things very often, then it's really good you're having a blast with everyone. Now, let's go!"

"Where are we going?"

"There's a local kitchen open for the commoners on the next street. They have very big stoves and tables, they usually teach people how to cook or serve tables, so everybody learns from everybody. What's more interesting is that low-class people come here and eat for free during times of crisis or during the holidays."

"It sounds a lot like the orphanage…"

"That's because it's run by the same people." Anise smiled, guiding him through the crowd until they got to a humble place made of clay bricks. Even the ovens and the table were built with the same materials. The owners recognized them immediately and asked them to come inside, completely surprised by their unusual visitors. Anise explained Ion had the intention of baking something for the children, who were there listening eagerly. Their eyes shone with excitement when she introduced the Fon Master to them. She believed it'd be a good idea if he met their kitchen even before their dinner, and the owner, a kind elderly woman received him with open arms and a warm smile.

She guided him through every step, but mostly she just showed him how to prepare the recipes by himself. It would be her task to get the decorations looking prim and proper, which she was very good at. Ion was actually really good at cooking, though he wasn't very creative and never proposed anything new for the dessert they were creating. Even so, it was a good start for an amateur. Anise smiled as she showed him how she did the decorations with white whipped cream over the chocolate cake. Ion looked at her with amazement, when she did a couple of flowers with a swift movement. His emerald eyes flashing with joy. Anise knew his time was so short, so fragile, so precious. She wished time froze just to stare at him being so happy, forever. She'd not ask for anything else, as long as she could keep her sweet Ion for eternity with a smile on his face.


	22. Fireplace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect another mass update, because I'm not dead yet!  
> Merry belated Christmas!

Guy x Noelle  
Tales of the Abyss

The first time they'd ever properly spoken to one another, was by the dim light of a dying fireplace on the outskirts of Engeve. The group had split after a much needed intervention in both nations before the war broke out. Guy was on the team that Noelle had dropped off later, and the young pilot had stayed behind with them while reparations were being made to her airplane, before taking some of the villagers to a safer haven in case the army invaded the town. Luke and Jade had gone off to Rose's house earlier that evening and they'd left the two with the task to set up their camp, in order to get some rest before the stormy events of the next morning broke out. Luke and Jade didn't made their way back until a lot later, when the fireplace they'd carefully built was already dying out. Noelle rested on her belly as she played with one of the burnt sticks and Guy stared at her, exhausted from the hard work. For the first time since they'd met, Guy decided it was a very good idea to get to know the woman who'd be joining them on their trip as their pilot. A simple "hey, thanks for all the help, we're really glad to have you around", was more than enough for them to kick it up immediately.

The first time Guy recognized he might have feelings for her was much later on, after the war was over and the world had unified itself. They were in Sheridan, spending time at her late grandfather's house. Once again, the fireplace was lit to warm up the place, but the flames were vivid and large. Guy had been left alone with her while Ginji and Aston went out for supplies, given the fact he was their special guest for the evening, Count Gailardia should not spend his evening doing chores. Instead, he should be focusing on how to improve the new flightstone they had found for another Albiore prototype.

Noelle stayed behind as well, mostly because it was already late at night. She and Guy inspected some blueprints at the sofa on the living room. He watched her carefully as she fixed her hair behind her ears. She had her usual white pants and brown boots, but she didn't have her jacket or her goggles on, and wore a black turtleneck sweater instead. Her eyes were brightened by the fire as they ran across the blueprints, and a smile crept on her face when she noticed a mistake they'd made. She asked him for a white pencil so she could correct said mistake, but Guy was caught off-guard staring at her, with a dumbfounded look on his face. When he noticed Noelle was staring back at him, he blushed wildly and did what she asked for. Completely flustered, Guy continued to ask himself why had he never noticed Noelle was such a pretty girl before.

The first time he kissed her, they were sitting in front of a fireplace once again. Her hands on his neck were soft, but her lips against his were even softer. Guy's hands grabbed the little of her lower back and brought her close to him, as the fireplace before them dimmed out, making an interesting shadowplay on the walls. It wasn't snowing, as it usually didn't happen in Sheridan, but the day had been incredibly cold that evening. Ginji would pay a visit later that week, but so far Guy was the only one of Noelle's guests who had arrived for the holidays. To Guy's surprise, she was wearing a blue dress on the day he arrived, while he wore nothing but his commoner clothes. He had expected to use his suit on new year's eve, but Noelle had seemingly put a lot of effort into receiving her guests. Guy felt slightly ashamed that Noelle looked so astonishing, while he had unruly hair and tarnished, old clothes on.

When she invited him to come in, he saw she had installed an electric system across the entire house, but she insisted it'd be good to light up the fireplace while the cold didn't subside. Guy agreed, and helped her lit up the fire as she gathered some old bark to burn. Once the room had started to heat up, Noelle took off her coat slowly and hanged it on the wall. The young swordsman's eyes were drawn to the movements of her lithe body, her long and delicate arms latched around the cloth before she hung it. Her dress covered her down to the knees, but she was wearing black tights beneath it in order to keep some heat on her gulped. After all those years, his crush for her hadn't vanished at all, no matter how hard he tried to tell himself otherwise. He watched her as she walked back and Guy couldn't help himself anymore: he took the young pilot's hand and asked if it would be ok to kiss her, without saying any words.


	23. Holidays, alone

Jade & Nebilim

Tales of the Abyss

It was a very odd fact in Jade Curtiss' life that he rarely spent his holiday break alone. Whether it was Peony dragging him to his family's dinner, Nephry calling him to come visit Keterburg, an unlikely case where he had to stay on the army's headquarters for days, a meal with his comrades, or even an emergency which involved inmates getting out of jail, Jade hadn't spent a Christmas Eve on his own. That year, however, it wasn't the case. Peony's dinner had been reserved only for important mandataries, which also included Nephy and her husband. Thus, no invitation to spend the week with them came. The HQ had been lonely, and no emergencies popped up at least until Jade had left his office. The Necromancer sighed, thinking of his possibilities for the upcoming days. Perhaps Keterburg wouldn't be such a bad idea, even if he wouldn't be staying at Nephry's house. He still had free entrance to the spa and the gourmet restaurant had some very good tasting dishes around this time of the year. After making his mind up, Jade decided to get a ticket to his hometown as soon as possible. He packed up his belongings and boarded the ferry that same evening, not even thinking about it twice.

Once he set foot on the snowy country, however, he regretted not staying back in his office. Keterburg was, as every year around that time, filled with families and children enjoying time they could spend together. Most people were on the streets playing with the snow or at the lake enjoying the frozen surface to skate and play around in the ice. Jade wasn't much of a melancholic person, but he wondered why he thought it'd be a good idea to spend his holidays alone in a very merry and candid place. Perhaps spending time surrounded by paperwork would make him feel a lot less anxious than the jolly environment that happened around him at the moment. The Necromancer sighed, with any luck he'd be getting a private bath on the spa and a quick meal, the Inn would have barely any spare rooms and he'd most likely use his ticket back to the capital by tomorrow's morning.

Just as he predicted, he barely got any time to rest. He'd make sure to note on his calendar to come visit his home when tourism was lower and people did not have vacations to spend their leisure time outside from their houses. He barely managed to get some spa tickets for later that evening, a reservation for tomorrow's afternoon at the restaurant, and a room at the Inn for two nights. Whatever idea he had to enjoy his time vanished immediately when he noticed he had too much free time to spend outside the Inn's facilities, but no idea on how to waste it.

He began to wander around town, observing the people around him with a slight tint of disgust on his eyes. He had no heart to feel any sort of empathy or compassion for these people, he had no need to push some sentimentalism over the holidays and wish everybody for a happy new year. No, Jade was sincere and enjoyed honesty among many things. The hypocrisy of the people around him made him feel bothered, but he managed to ignore his anger nonetheless.

Jade's feet drifted along the streets, not paying attention to the road or the destination they had. He walked and walked until the aching of his legs told him to stop. He came back to reality after glancing at his watch: it had been three hours since he had drifted from the Inn without even noticing where was he heading towards. His eyes blinked as he realized just where his feet had taken him. It surely wasn't a coincidence, his brain and his instinct must have activated that repressed muscle memory that made him walk towards his former school, also known as the memorial on Professor's Nebilim's house. It had been around 25 years since he had last shown his presence around the same street, ever since the funeral happened and the silver plaque had been placed on a pedestal that showed where the school used to be. He got closer and cleaned the snow from the plaque, which read an obituary that remembered the Professor's deeds and how loved she was by the people around her.

The Necromancer shut his eyes with remorse and stuck his forehead against the cold stone that held the plaque on its place. He didn't shiver, enjoying the cold sensation on his head seemed to stop a headache from coming up on his temple. Jade backed off a few steps and, perhaps unusual coming from him, he sat in front of the memorial plaque, closing his eyes as he felt the snow covering his hair and his eyelids, ignoring the glasses atop of his nose. It wasn't a populated streets, as far as he knew, people rarely ever walked by since the school burnt down.

He enjoyed solitude and silence for the first time, even if the cold was making his hands go numb. Jade smiled, even though he felt the warmth of his tears running down from his eyes. No matter how many years had passed, no matter how old he was, the memory of his beloved mentor still haunted him and drove him crazy with regret. He could not bring her back. He would not bring her back. He knew he didn't have neither the capabilities nor the rights to do so. Even if he did, what would he even tell her? Fool, young Jade would never be able to make it up to her. The Professor was just so perfect for him to comprehend, even after all those years…

"Mister, you shouldn't be sitting on the snow like that. Even if the snow is not kicking up, you'll catch a cold." A kind voice spoke behind him. Jade knew it so well he understood it could not be real.

"I'm sorry." He excused himself, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "I was just visiting an old friend."

"I'm sure your friend wouldn't want you to get sick, would her?" She said, grabbing his shoulder firmly. Jade froze and felt a shiver running down his spine. Her touch was as gentle as he remembered, but he didn't dare to turn his face around to confirm whether that was her or not. "Please… be strong, Jade."

"Professor…" Jade muttered and reached out his hand to hold hers, but he only managed to touch his own shoulder. The hand had vanished, but her presence still lingered around him. When he turned his sight in hopes of finding her standing behind him, she was gone. The Necromancer stood up and cleaned his clothes from the snow that had fallen upon them. He wasn't easily creeped out, but he had to admit he felt uneasy, as if he was being watched. He knew it had all been an hallucination, but he could not deny it had almost felt too real.


	24. Postcards

Peony x Nephry  
Tales of the Abyss

A letter had arrived on the mail earlier that morning. Nephry received it from her butler, which estranged the woman since he usually served her husband directly and rarely handed anything to her personally. The elderly man explained he had a very good reason not to show this letter to Count Osbourne, and Nephry understood immediately what he meant by that.

It only took her to take a look at the envelope, signed with the Emperor's flawless calligraphy, for Nephry to know the butler was helping her out in keeping her secret. She had kept mailing letters to her former fiancé in secret from his husband, but it was an habit that ran through years of history the woman had along with Peony. She smiled and asked the butler to keep it a secret, to which he nodded and waiter for her to read it, assuming she'd like to write a reply the elderly man would end up delivering at the post office.

> _Dear Nephry,_
> 
> It's been a long time, my dear. I hope this weather has been kind to you. As every year that preceded this one, the palace has been lonely without your presence. I really wish I could be able to go meet you in that Winter Wonderland you call home, but duty calls and it shall be heeded. Alas, I don't believe your husband would take it in the best regards, having me there invading your household. Send my love to him, though, as he deserves nothing but blessings for having you as his wife.
> 
> As you may know, I cannot even leave the palace at the moment, paperwork and meetings have been consuming my entire schedule. I think even my little rappigs are feeling incredibly lonely we're not there to play with them anymore. I hope they're not as sensitive as their beloved master.
> 
> Even though we're far apart, since time and destiny keep us away from each other, just remember the unyielding feelings I confessed to you have not wavered at all. I still love you with all my heart, my dear Nephry. I hope to see you soon, as I long to embrace you once again.
> 
> _With love, Emperor Peony._

Nephry's heart fluttered with overwhelming emotion as she read the letter, since the last letter she had received from him was at least six months old. She could not allow herself to send any on her own, since it'd raise suspicions on Count Osbourn if she did. The governor inspected the letter once again, noticing he had written it on a very cute postcard. It had an illustration with a couple of rappings nuzzling their noses together. Nephry smiled, asking the butler if he could fetch her a postcard from town as well. The elderly man smiled and handed her a blue card, he had already foreseen Nephry would like to do so. The postcard she was sending to her beloved had a couple of small and cute penguinists holding their flippers together. She smiled and fetched a pen, feeling the excitement of writing another letter for Peony behind everyone's back.

> _My sweet Peony,_
> 
> I'm so glad I got your letter, for it is the warmth of your love that keeps me going through these harsh times. I really hope we get to be together soon, even if the Score opposes it, I have no other wish than to be with you. These holidays have been quite lonely, the dinner wasn't as lively as it would have been if you had been present, like past year.
> 
> I'm missing you so much, and I'm sure your lovely rappings would enjoy your company, please give them a little of your time, now that they have the chance to be with you. I'm almost a bit jealous of them. Almost. Just remember you promised to gift me one of them for next Christmas, and, as I promised and it's only fair, he'd be named in your honor.
> 
> I hope we could stop keeping all of this a secret. However, if that were the case, we wouldn't be needing to communicate through mail every once in awhile. I'd just be by your side, at all times. Remember that's my biggest and only wish, to be able to spend the rest of my days with you. If, perhaps, this selfish desire is never satisfied because the Score insists on keeping us apart, just keep me in your thoughts forever. That'd be more than enough, to know that you're thinking of me.
> 
> I love you, please never forget that.
> 
> _Forever yours, Nephry._


	25. Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!!   
> From this chapter onwards, the stories won't focus on any pairing in particular, but the parties from the games as a whole.

Anise cursed under her breath as she saw the mess Natalia had made in her kitchen. The princess had wanted to host a Christmas dinner, and ever since she took those god-forsaken cooking lessons from Jade's sister, she believed it'd be a good idea to try her new skills for the first time. Of course things wouldn't go as smoothly as Natalia believed if she didn't have Nephry's guiding hand, scolding her for every mistake she made every time she deviated from the written recipe. It was Christmas eve, around three hours before dinner, and every single one of the dishes had been ruined by a sloppy mistake: switching salt with sugar by accident.

"Do you think any of it has a redeeming quality?" Tear asked, being the impartial judge for the occasion. Anise shook her head as she inspected the horribly-tasting roast beef. There was a terrible stench filling the kitchen and Anise wondered whether it was the ham, bathed in white wine sauce and spiced up with three teaspoons of sugar and honey, or the fruit cocktail she had decorated with yogurt and a pinch of salt. "Is it that bad?"

"She messed it all up. I'm afraid we might have to order some food from the castle's personnel, since this is completely inedible." Anise determined, feeling grossed out by the whole mix before her.

"Man, it's going to break Natalia's heart. She was so excited." Guy said, scratching his neck in discomfort.

"But it was actually a good idea we checked beforehand, I'd not have liked to taste any of Natalia's cooking blindly." Luke argued. He might have sounded rough, but he had a good point. Not even wanting to admit it, all of them feared being food poisoned by accident if it was Natalia's cuisine they were eating.

"W-what do we do now? Jade's outside distracting her, but she'll insist we help her fix the table anytime now." Tear pondered with a worried grimace on her face.

"I think the best thing is to tell her the truth." Anise said, shaking her head as she failed her attempt to take a taste on the soup. The smell repelled her immediately. "she's old enough to understand."

"It's Natalia we're talking about" Luke insisted, exasperated. "She's gonna throw a temper tantrum and it's gonna be terrible. Is there any way to fix this without her noticing?"

Anise shook her head again, insisting it was futile. She, however, knew of someone who might have a chance to fix it with fonic artes if he had enough time and patience to do so. Thing was, he most likely wanted to see their little reunion ruined, since the Princess had forced him to come all the way from Grand Chokmah just to have some dinner with a bunch of kids. Just as Anise wondered if he'd be able and willing to help, Jade's head popped up from behind the door with his typical calm and cold smile.

"The Princess insists you should be helping her with the table now." He said, and everybody noticed he had ran out of time to distract her away from the kitchen. He didn't look even slightly bothered, though, as if the Necromancer didn't care about the stressful situation the rest of them were meddled into. He had only agreed to help them, thinking he'd get amused by the whole turnout of the events, whichever was the result.

"C-can't we stay here a little longer?" Tear said, distressed, but Jade shook his head with a silly and sarcastic smile on his lips.

"No, she insists. I promised Nephry I'd check how her apprentice was doing, so please let me inspect the results." He ordered with calm, but Anise noticed he was being intentionally cruel. He had already assumed Natalia had screwed up badly. She was a hundred percent sure Jade would not sugar coat it and it'd ruin the dinner completely. She also knew none of her friends would be able to tell Natalia how bad her cooking was, so they'd leave it to Jade to be a jerk about it later on.

"Ok… Tear, come with me. We're going shopping." Anise sighting, waiting for the worst. "You guys help the Princess with the plates and the cutlery, I trust Jade will be kind enough to inform us if anything happens, right?"

"Don't you worry, dear, it'll be perfect~"

* * *

Anise felt her hands sweating as the six of them sat at the table. Guy, Luke and Tear shared her worried expression, but Jade had a kind smile on his face and Natalia chatted animously with him as the maids brought the plates filled with the nauseous food Natalia had prepared. Anise wondered what reaction did Jade expected them to have once they got food poisoned and Natalia noticed how bad she had done. Once the maids opened the trays, Anise had to admit the meal looked a lot better than she assumed it tasted. She guessed Natalia at least got the presentation right.

"Please, serve yourselves." the princess said as she poured some champagne on their glasses. Jade's smile widened when she poured some on his vase, but he had not touched any of the plates yet. Perhaps he was waiting patiently for hell to raise. "But… before we start, I want to thank all of you for coming here tonight. I'm glad we get to spend some time together now that the year is coming to an end… I've made very good friends with all of you during these years, I couldn't ask for better guests tonight."

The others, Jade included this time, looked at her with an astonished look on their faces. Luke sighed and Anise shook her head, but Jade's smile appeared back on his face almost immediately.

"Natalia, please promise you won't get m-"

"Now, children, it's time we begin our feast, don't you think?" Jade said, raising up from his chair and serving himself a slice of quiche before everyone else even had time to react. "Thank you, Your Highness, for having all of us this evening." He ate calmly, not making even a grimace or a single gagging sound as he swallowed. "It's truly delicious."

Anise opened her mouth with skepticism. That was impossible, and Jade wasn't a very good liar to begin with. She wondered if he had tampered Natalia's original creation while they were away, and so she took a spoonful of soup and poured it into her bowl. When she tasted it, she couldn't detect anything wrong with the flavors. It wasn't perfect, but it was edible at least.

"How is it, Chef Anise?" Natalia asked with anticipation.

"It's good…" She took a bite of the quiche, and just as Jade had said before, it was actually really good tasting. "You've actually done it, Natalia… it's really good."

Tear, Luke and Guy looked at them, stranged. Jade didn't say a thing, but he kept smiling as his friends served themselves some more food. Natalia's smile was radiant, as she enjoyed watching her guests delighting themselves with the food she had crafted.

* * *

"Be honest with me." Natalia demanded when Jade caught up with her, once her friends had left the dining room. "You did something with the food while we made the preparations."

"You knew." Jade assured, helping her pick a heavy tray.

"Of course I knew. I'm still inexperienced and they all looked like they had seen a ghost when you forced them to sit at the table. What did you do?"

"A bit of magic to tamper the flavor. Adding water or cooking things a bit more usually does the trick, but at times you need a little more trampling than usual." He shrugged.

"Then?"

"Salt is a mineral, I control the earth Fonon with ease."

"It was already cooked, we're talking about molecular level here…" Natalia rose a distrustful eyebrow.

"That's just how good I am." the Necromancer answered, poking her nose with one of his fingers. "But thank for doing your best for us, Princess~ I'll let you take the credit this time, but next year I won't be as kind."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jade."


	26. Winter Wonderland

Tales of Xillia

It had been such a long, long time since Alvin had last visited his homeland it almost felt alien to him seeing the desertic landscape covered in snow. It was quite unusual even for his own memories, as Trigleph, Duval and Drelling were frequently surrounded by very rough climates. He smiled, as he watched the traces of the spirit climes, common to Rieze Maxia, appearing around his hometown. He walked home with the groceries beneath his arm, as he expected to receive visitors later that evening.

"Hey, Alvin!" Jude's voice called him from across the street. The young scientist ran to catch up with his friend, who smiled excitedly and shook the youngster's hand.

"Nice to see you out of your lab, kid. What are you doing around here?" Alvin asked. He felt his GHS vibrating violently again on his pocket. Leia must be sending dumb emojis again or something.

"I was having lunch with some colleagues, since we only got to be at the office until 12." Jude explained, pointing at two girls and another man sitting at a coffee table. "Do you want to join us?" He asked, but Alvin shook his head.

"Nah, I gotta get going. As you can see, I didn't come prepared or snow, and I still need to make tonight's dinner or the girls are going to kill me. You're coming, right?" He asked, since Jude had been the only one who didn't confirm his assistance.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" Jude insisted, though Alvin knew something might come up that he might as well not show up in the end. He also knew the young researcher was heading home to spend some quality time with his mother for the new year's eve, so he had arranged the dates in case he had a chance of coming.

"I'll make sure you keep that promise, kid. See you later, then."

Alvin took the train from Duval's station back into Trigleph, after picking up the last bottle of liquor he needed both for serving and preparing the meal he had planned for dinner. He'd go home to leave the groceries and then he'd walk to the marketplace to buy some things that were missing before locking himself up in the kitchen until the meal was ready. He put his headphones on as he traveled on the train and watched the landscape unfold before him behind the crystal. Having trees around the highroads was still a brand new thing, but watching them leafless and lifeless was such a melancholic sight. It reminded him of his numerous travels across the other nation and he remembered how solitude used to invade him during these times of the year. He'd usually go back to his mother's apartment and spend the holidays with her in complete silence. Not even Gilland would bother to pay them a visit. It surely felt lonely.

When he arrived home, he noticed another familiar shape sitting on the nearby park, swinging herself on the left seat. He smiled. It was the place where she had forgiven him and she kissed his cheek some years ago. It was such an innocent gesture, but it made Alvin smile whenever he remembered it. She no longer brought that purple puppet with her, but the salesman had to admit he kinda missed that thing. Voicing Elize's inner thoughts usually brought very funny results. He walked slowly towards her and managing to catch her off guard, he pushed her swing strongly. Elize screamed from the sudden impulse, but when she noticed who was pushing her, she smiled widely.

"Hey! Hello, Alvin!" She greeted him, swinging her legs to gain more impulse. She giggled as she reached higher and higher. Alvin felt a shy smile creeping up his face. He'd never admit to it, but if he were to have a daughter, he'd love her to be a lot like Elize.

"How you've been doing, Elize? It's nice to see you." He greeted her, raising his voice so she could hear him.

"I'm fine, thanks! Nice to see you too!"

"Oi, where is Rowen? I believed he was coming with you…"

"He's playing chess against Ludger on his house." Elize answered and alvin stopped the swing immediately. "Wanna go say hi?"

"Nah, I'll go later, better let the old man enjoy the warmth from the indoors or his bones will surely freeze with this cold. Besides, Ludger will be coming later to check on the food, it's better if I don't bother him until then…"

"Just exactly who are you calling an old man, Alvin?" Rowen's voice asked, and he walked into the park with very decisive steps. Ludger walked behind him and the silent man just greeted him with a wave from his hand. Snow had covered almost five centimeters from the ground, so it made it slightly harder to walk now. "It's nice to see you're doing fine."

"Yeah… hey, Elize, what were you doing outside on the swings by yourself? Just as I said, it's really cold. Won't it be better if you go home?"

"O-oh… I just wanted to come here for a few seconds, that's all. I needed some time to think and remember some stuff." She blushed, eyeing at him from the side. Alvin understood perfectly what she meant and smiled, but he didn't say a word. Unless Elize had spoken with someone about it, that conversation and that peck on the cheek would remain forever a secret between them.

"I do have to agree with Alvin now." Rowen said, gesturing Elize to go back inside. Ludger grabbed her hand and walked her inside the building. Rowen picked up the bottles from Alvin's hands and insisted he could pick them up once he was done picking up the missing ingredients. "By the way, where's Leia? I believe she should have arrived already."

"Shoot!" Alvin remembered he had received a text from her almost an hour ago. "I was supposed to pick her up at the port! See you later, guys, I need to go!"

He waved them goodbye and rushed towards the ports running as fast as his legs allowed him to move while the snow grew thicker beneath his feet. Of course he was getting cold as time flew by, he wasn't even wearing boots or another jacket to begin with. He checked his GHS as he tried to reach his destination, noticing he had not only a missed message, but three phone calls and a horde of emojis invading their conversation.

"At least you should have told me to bring a coat!"

"Please hurry, I'm freezing!"

"Tell my mother I loved her and I didn't suffer much… but that's a lie. The cold is unbearable, please hurry."

"Alvin if you don't answer I'm going to stab you with an icicle."

 _Shoot, shoot, shooooot!_ alvin thought as he drifted on the marble floor and entered the port with a loud thumping noise, almost smashing against a merchant carrying bottles and crates. His eyes moved around like crazy until he found her, sitting on a wooden bench with her legs against her chest. She wore shorts with her typical leggings and a light jacket, evidently she was freezing from tip to hurried and wrapped his scarf and coat around her, and even if he received a mean look from her, which he totally deserved, he still hugged her as a way of asking for forgiveness.

"Yo-y-you're an idiot… w-w-w-why did you forget about picking me up?" Her teeth gritted and she spoke. "And why is it getting s-s-so cold?"

"I think we're getting ourselves a spirit clime… I wouldn't mind if my house became a winter wonderland, though."

"I'm never vis-v-vis-s-visiting you again, then." She said, grabbing his arm to help herself up.

"C-come on, I'm getting cold as well, let's head home. N-now that you can drink as well, I'll get you a very strong brew and you'll be warm in a minute." He offered, as he felt the breeze running down his neck, making him shiver.

As they walked out from the port, Leia stopped him, pulling from Alvin's sleeve. Her eyes were fixed upon the sea before them, covered in a thin veil of mist. Trigleph and Elympios were not known for having calm and quiet waters. Quite on the contrary, the ocean surrounding the town was usually dangerous and it had high waves that made it difficult for sailing and fishing. However, that evening, the sea was completely calm. The horizon was completely still and Leia swore her heart stopped for a second as she watched the white landscape unfolding right in front of them.

Night would be falling on them in no time and the currents would rise, but Alvin believed the mist would last until the morning. It'd probably become morning dew by then, since the temperature should still be rising to it's normal standard. He pulled from Leia's shoulder to make her come back to her senses, and she blinked twice as she forced herself back into reality. She still held the fabric of his shirt as they waited.

"I'd really like to see the Spirit Climes here when it's complete." She admitted. It stranged Alvin that she had liked such a melancholic and depressing sight. Perhaps there was more to her than he had ever seen. But he knew that, with everyone's company and Leia's promise to come back, he'd never spend another holiday feeling a void in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Milla here because I seriously didn't know how to make her fit into this. Same for Gaius


	27. Secret Santa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter in the challenge, just as a fair warning.

Tales of Symphonia

"Well then!", Colette stood up from her seat after finishing her meal. The other people on the table turned around to face her, most of them with a bored look on their faces. "Hurry up, guys! It's best if we do this Secret Santa thing earlier, don't you think?"

Only Zelos and Lloyd seemed remotely interested, while the other four had a blank expression on their faces. Everyone but Genis seemed completely calm, even bothered of having to participate in such a thing, but the young magician showed signs of distress on his face. Colette didn't even notice, so she continued to hop around, picking the dirty dishes and taking them to the kitchen counter.

"Who's starting it?" Sheena asked, glancing at the Chosen without even moving from her seat. It was the first time they exchanged gifts for the holidays, and it had all been the former Chosen's idea. As such, they all expected her to take the initiative on organizing the activity. Colette blinked in confusion, then she smiled nervously.

"I don't know." She stuck her tongue out like she always did when things didn't go her way. "I suppose I can start, but… I want to add a special rule to the game!"

"A Secret Santa is not a game." Presea said, looking at her with a blank stare.

"I know, but I think it'll be nice to do so. Before giving the present to the person, we have to say something nice about them or a good memory we have about them!"

"Huh, that's actually a good idea." Zelos admitted. He picked up the present he had brought, which was slightly bigger than everyone else's. "But I'd like togo last if that's the case, if it's no problem with you. The surprise I've got is quite big..."

Colette shook her head and smiled happily. She fixed her braided blonde hair so that the bangs would not fall on her eyes as she pulled everyone off their seats and pushed them into the living room, almost forcing them to pick up their presents so that they could begin. She always liked when someone else besides her had the initiative to start things up, even if the other Chosen wasn't going first. Zelos had been really supportive ever since she began planning the Secret Santa, and he had been the one who had to convince half of the members of their party to join the exchange.

"Ok, so…" Colette laughed nervously. She picked her gift from behind the nearest couch and kept it on her lap. It was a small lacquered box covered with a bright, purple ribbon on top of it. "Hehehe, this is awkward."

"It was your idea." Genis grunted, but he still had a nervous tone on his voice and he looked slightly sweaty. Colette smiled, suspecting what was happening with her friend at the moment.

"Yeah! Let's see. The person I've got as my Secret Santa is a really nice person. She's really pretty, even if she thinks she's not and she's quite self conscious about her looks. I like that she's really strong and has really crazy powers! My favorite memory with her would be… hmm… I guess when we got to meet her in Ossa Trail… uh, not because you fell, but because I've got to be your friend for the time we first met!"

"You know, it's weird you insist we were friends since then because I was still trying to kill you." Sheena said, receiving Colette's gift with a smile. "Thanks a lot, it's really pretty."

"I'm glad you've liked it, Sheena! Now's your turn!"

"R-right." Sheena stuttered, holding a small card on her hands with a tight grip. She took a deep breath as she blushed a deep shade of crimson and began speaking. "My Secret Santa is… is someone I really admire. He's brave and strong and I… I'd really like to train with him more often. My favorite memory with him is… gah… is… there was this one night in Flanoir before we faced Mythos that we talked before going to sleep and… ugh, don't make me say it, here you go." She handed the card to Lloyd, her face as red as a tomato.

"It almost sounds as if you were proposing to him, Sheena!" Zelos laughed, and he was immediately punched in the face by the young ninja.

"Shut up!"

"Oh, thanks, Sheena! What is it?" Lloyd asked, confused. He could not read the glyphs on the paper.

"I-it's an invitation to learn summoning skills and ninjutsu with master Tiga in Mizuho. I knew you were interested so I asked if they could forward you an invitation… It a-also has my real name printed on the glyphs, so when you learn our secret language, well… uhmm…"

"Didn't you say I had to be a villager to learn all of this? Or marry someone from Mizuho?" Lloyd remembered, making Sheena blush even harder.

"It IS a marriage proposal." Zelos laughed again, dodging Sheena's next punch.

"N-no! It's just an invitation! I asked them to make an exception for you! Gosh…"

"Hm…" Lloyd said, shrugging. "I'd just have to marry you, right? That's fine by me." He shrugged again and ignored the fact that Sheena almost fainted form emotion as he lifted from his seat and spoke towards his Secret Santa's direction. "The person I got is my best friend" He smiled, looking at the small-framed mage. "I think it goes without saying I like many things about him, but what I like the most is how smart he is! Our best memory… I don't know, there are so many of them, I can't pick one! Perhaps… hahaha, perhaps skipping some of Professor's Sage's lessons to go play in the forest… please don't hit me!"

"I'll let it pass just for tonight." Raine said, as one of her eyebrows twitched on her frow.

"Thanks, Lloyd! This kendama looks a lot more like a staff, you know…?"

"You're no longer a kid, you'll soon start channelling mana with staves instead, but I crafted it so it'd still look like a kendama. I hope it does work!" Lloyd said with a wide smile, still ignoring Sheena was still breathing heavily on Zelos' shoulder.

"Yeah… now… my gift is for someone I… I…" He froze. He picked the large rabbit plushie he had bought for her, but he was unable to speak. It happened just as Genis had expected: he'd get stage fright just as he planned on confessing to her. "for someone I…"

Regal sighed. Genis had pestered him so much to change persons with him that he almost felt sorry he was getting stuck by nerves at this point. The large man coughed and Genis tried to keep on with his speech, but no words came from his mouth.

"It's fine." Presea said, raising from her seat to grab the plush toy. "I know." She gave him a peck on the cheek and smiled, patting Genis' head. "I think our best memory would be at Zelos' gala, don't you think? I really liked dancing with you, Genis. Even if you stepped on my feet."

Genis nodded nervously, just as flustered as Sheena had been some minutes before, but at least he was able to walk back to his seat and keep his balance on the chair. Presea took a wooden box and walked towards her Secret Santa. The height difference was quite large, even if he was still seated. She didn't say a word and handed him the gift, which was a sharp kitchen knife, then proceeded to say a few words about him.

"I like your strength, your kindness and how gentle you are with others. Even if it's been hard for me to accept you… I couldn't have asked for a better friend." She could see a shimmer of regret and gleefulness on Regal's eyes. She had already forgiven him, but every time she spoke highly of him, it looked as if he had new reasons to keep his head up tight. "Our favorite moment together… it's a bit silly… I really enjoyed rescuing cats with you in Meltokio."

"Thanks." He said, and nothing else. There was a certain charm on how silent and humble their relationship was, that no one said anything or even dared to make a joke about their frank and stern exchange of words. "My gift is for someone I appreciate and admire for her knowledge and kindness, as well. She's a very good leader, a wonderful teacher, and even a loving mother figure to these unruly children we've been traveling with." He handed Raine a bouquet of white roses and a small velveteen box, which had a pair of earrings inside. "My favourite memory… I guess it'd be when I saw you tucking your brother and young Mythos to bed one night. You looked really worried about them, but that sense of responsibility was something I've always admired about you."

"I guess if the Professor's been a mother figure for us..." Colette said, who had been awfully quiet ever since she gave her gift to Sheena. "... that sorta means Regal's been like a father figure, too!"

"Don't jump into conclusions so fast." Raine said, putting her new earrings on and fixing her silver hair behind her ears. Regal smiled, the color really suited her, as they brought out the shimmer in her eyes. "My Secret Santa is someone I'm not particularly close to, I have to acknowledge. But… there's something I do admit liking about him, and it's his charisma and his positivity. He's been through a lot, like any of us, but he's always been able to put up a smile whenever adversity comes. I'd like if he'd show his real self more often. I'm sure he's a really nice man beneath all that self-confidence." She gave Zelos a beautifully adorned mirror, with carvings on the handle and frame. "My favorite moment with him was when he came back to us, even if we believed he'd tricked and sold us to the enemy. I had not learned how to trust you then, but after you showed just how much you cared for everyone, I couldn't help but think how much we had underestimated you."

"Aww honey! You're gonna make me cry." Zelos said, trying to hug Raine to no avail. she shoved him away and muttered a menacing _Don't push your luck._

"Now, now! don't get so angry! I guess I was last indeed, how lucky! Now, let's see, a good thing about my Secret Santa, right? I know sheena and Raine won't let me say anything vulgar hahaha~" He asked, holding the box close to his chest. The box had been moving violently and he had been trying to keep it under control, as if nobody would take notice he had a living being inside the present. Presea was giving him the most suspicious eyes someone had ever glanced at him. "Let's see. My sweet Secret Santa is a very kind and loving girl, but she's usually worried she might be a bother to some ungrateful few. I would like her to have a little bit more confidence, since she has a really cute face and I do not like seeing pretty girls feel sad."

He walked down to Colette and knelt before her, opening the box with shaky hands. A pup bounced from the box, wagging its tail and licking the Chosen's face with eagerness. It had dark fur with white spots on its paws, but overall, it looked like a healthy and cheerful puppy. Colette laughed as she hugged the dog and patted it with kindness.

"My favorite memoir about you, or at least the one I cherish the most… I think it's lovely how you talk to animals wherever you go." He shrugged. "I hope you like it, sweetie!"

"It's adorable!" Colette said, carrying the dog on her arms and hugging Zelos.

"How are you gonna name it, Colette?" Genis asked, recovering his voice at last.

"Hmm… Wildy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personal note: I began playing the Tales of Series thanks to this game. No, I didn't play it when it came out for the Game Cube like 13 years ago. My BF lend it to me like two years ago and we played it together after school, so it became one of those things we bonded over and became really close because of the characters. He says I'm a lot like Sheena and Lloyd is one of his childhood heroes, thus I ended up shipping them really strong. I do not mind him and Colette together... but it's not SheeLloyd. I used this chapter just to make an anthology of my own impressions and favorite moments of both the party and the characters themselves (and, at times, for the couples I like as well). Symphonia isn't my fav Tales game, but it has a very special place in my heart for what it means to us and what it means in our relationship.


	28. Blankets

Tales of Hearts

"It's cold… so cold…" Ines' teeth clacked against each other, as she looked on her backpack for warmer clothing than the ones she was wearing.

"The guys should be coming back soon…" Kohaku said, trying to cover her legs with her arms so that she'd not freeze to death for wearing shorts."B-Beryl, didn't you say your hometown wasn't cold? T-that it rained all-year round?"

"It usually does…" the artist had some spare winter clothing in her house, but it would definitely not fit any of the other two women: Kohaku for being so tall, and Ines for being so curvy. "But I guess this year's an exception. I'm sorry I have no way of helping you right now, but grandma's been sick for a while and she needs to keep herself warm. Even Baaryl doesn't want to move from her side, I'd lend her to any of you but she's become a very reliable sheep when granny's sick."

"D-don't worry dear." Ines said, covering her belly with one of Beryl's hats. It didn't work, but at least it stopped the breeze from hitting her belly button. If only she had accepted Gall's proposal to take the three coats they were offering… but no, Kohaku had to be a good samaritan and ask them to keep them until they came back to the house, or they'd freeze on their search for a warmth source.

"I hope Grandma Benito gets better soon." Kohaku wished for her grandma's wellbeing. She was a really kind hearted girl.

"She will, she's sturdy as a rock. It's just that a cold at her age and with this weather might turn into something more serious if we don't pamper her enough." Beryl laughed, fetching a piece of spare fabric she had for Kohaku to cover her legs until the guys came back. That'd do for the moment.

"We're back!" Shing's voice spoke from the lower floor of the house. The guys reached Beryl's bedroom in a couple of seconds and barged in with three large and thick blankets made of wool and cotton.

"I don't know if you've managed to count how many people are in this room, but there's six of us and only three blankets." Ines said, slightly desperate from the cold.

"I know…" Hisui started, averting her gaze. "There were only three of these left, the other villagers had already taken the others. There were another pair left, but they were a lot more expensive and you clearly said not to spend a lot on these, so…"

"I don't care right now, just… give it to me." Ines demanded to be wrapped in one of those fuzzy blankets in that very moment. "I suppose we'll have to share them."

"I see no problem, I can share mine with Kohaku." Hisui said, and he immediately noticed both his sister and Shing's disappointed faces. "OH NO, don't even think about getting all warm and fuzzy with Kohaku, you deviant!"

"I wasn't thinking any of that!" Shing said, raising his arms up in the air as if declaring he was innocent. "Besides, I can share with Beryl or Ines, it's no trouble!"

"Nuh-hu~ I'm sharing mine with Gall." The woman said, who had already sat on the floor with the old man by her side. "He's got a bottle of liquor beneath his arm and none of you children are of age to drink, so it's mandatory that we adults share one of the blankets."

"You're terrible, and you know it." Hisui said, as he noticed that, indeed, both of them were drinking from a flask. At least that'd keep them warm for a long time in just a few seconds.

"Then, how about we play a game to see who gets to share the blanket with Kohaku?"

"You have no rights to chose, I'm her brother!" Hisui shouted, but he received a flying kick from Kohaku so that he'd shut up immediately.

"What's your idea, Shing?" Beryl said, suddenly interested in ruining their party. She had no need for blankets, since she had her own think clothing in her bedroom, but playing a little game to bother Hisui was always a good idea.

"How's about we play the straw game?" He took three straws from the kitchen and came back up. He had cut them at different heights and placed them all at the same level on his hands, so that the one who got the largest straw would get to share the blanket with Kohaku.

"This is so stupid…" Hisui said.

"I think it's a great idea."

"On your marks!" Kohaku chanted, as the three of them placed their fingertips on one of the straws respectively. "Three… two… one… PULL!" they all did and stared at each other in silence for a while.

"Oh…" Beryl said with a mischievous smile on her lips. "This reminds me about the hot-pot incident."

"Hell no!" Hisui exclaimed with anger.

"W-what?!"

And so, Kohaku got to spend a warm evening sitting by Beryl's side, talking about girl's stuff to each other's ears as they giggled and drank some warm cocoa. Ines and Gall enjoyed their drink like old comrades that got along after the war and reunited on a cold, winter night for a laugh and a game of cards. And Hisui and Shing… well, they were forced into their blanket as if it was their get-along shirt. None of them spoke a word for the rest of the day and they refused to speak about the incident for another year.


	29. Leftover Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY UP TO DATE! WE'RE ALMOST DONE!

Tales of Zestiria

If Edna had to eat another turkey leg or one more slice of fruitcake that week, she swore she'd cut Lailah's hair, put a shirt on Zaveid's shoulders and force Rose to wear a dress. If she saw just one more merrily adorned cupcake or another glass of cider, she swore she'd make Mikleo cry and then make water magic with his own tears.

"Guys… how long will we have to carry these leftovers?" Rose asked, inspecting the packages before putting them on their backpacks. "We've been eating the same shit for two weeks."

"It's a blessing Seraphim don't need to consume food." Lailah said with a smile on her lips.

"Oh, but you'll keep on helping us…" Rose answered with a grimace. "I don't think Sorey and I can finish all of this just the two of us… it just never seems to end…"

"The people from Pendrago were kind enough to share dinner with us, it's only fair we don't drop their kindness to waste." Dezel argued, picking a piece of beef from one of the still-open packages. He wasn't going to be hypocritical enough and say he wasn't sick of the same food as well, but he had to be sincere with his feelings and swallow up his disgust and complaints.

"Dezel's right… besides, I think I know what to do with it, now that I think about it." Sorey said as he stared at the food with a pensive look on his eyes. "ever since the miasma leaks, there has been a drought and the crops haven't grown well because of the cold weather on the south, perhaps we could share some of this with the townspeople. It's a small village, after all."

"Don't you think it'll get rotten by the time we get there?" Mikleo asked, taking note that they'd had the food for almost three weeks now. It had only preserved itself by sheer luck and because Sorey and Rose were often accompanied by five magical beings.

"Then we have no choice… we'll have to hold a contest." Edna said with a stern look on her face.

"A contest?" Mikleo and Sorey asked in unison.

"Yes. An all-out, all-you-can-eat contest." Edna crossed her arms atop of her chest with judging eyes.

"What's the prize?" Dezel inquired, confused.

"Winner's choice." The earth seraph answered abruptly.

"You know what…?" Rose said, leaving the unpacked bundles on the table to turn around and face the young seraph. "I think it's a good idea, but I don't believe I would make it past the second round. If I have to touch just one more drop of gravy, I swear I'll puke for two hours straight."

"Chickens can cower before we start. they'll receive their due punishment for lack of cooperation to the cause."

"Fine by me." Rose admitted defeat, as long as she didn't have to eat the same thing for another couple of weeks, she'd accept any torture Edna considered worthy. "Just make all of this disappear, please."

"Then… who's entering the contest?" Lailah asked, thoroughly interested on the prize.

"I can't do it because I'll be the referee." Edna stated with a firm voice. Rose cackled like a madman, recognizing Edna was just trying to get away without eating anymore of the leftovers. "The I guess Rose will be the impartial judge."

"It leaves us with Sorey, Mikleo, Zaveid, Dezel and Lailah." Rose said, patting the younger wind seraph strongly. "I hope you win, Dezel, I'm betting my money on you!"

"So much for an impartial judge…" the blind seraphim said, turning his face towards the direction of her voice.

"Then I'll bet mine on Mikky-boy." Edna said, pinching the water seraph on the ribs with her umbrella.

"I'll go for Mikleo too!" Sorey said, but Zaveid slapped him before the Shepherd could get even more excited.

"You're competing _against_ him, blockhead!"

"Oh, that's right… then I'll bet it on myself!"

"... this guy's supposed to be humanity's savior…"

After much discussion and mutual pestering, Edna set the rules for the impromptu contest they'd be holding that evening. They had to cleanse the plates and no food had to remain on the packages. The first round would consist of salad and soup, the second course would be turkey stew and the last one would be the dessert table. If they were still alive by then, they'd hold a cider-shot competition to determine who'd be the ultimate holiday-leftover food champion.

The first round was quite easy to swallow, since soup and salad weren't as heavy as the second course. Mikleo had some distress on it for being picky with vegetables, but managed to finish the round with little trouble. The second plate was where they began falling down like domino pieces. Sorey was the first to fail the contest, perhaps he was way too human to survive eating such amounts of food in such a limited time, but Zaveid and Dezel seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. Lailah ate quietly and at her own pace, but she showed no signs of getting full anytime soon.

During the dessert round was when things began falling downhill. Mikleo couldn't eat anymore after two servings of stew, dipped in gravy. Dezel had little tolerance for sweets and became tired of the taste rather quickly when the third serving of fruitcake, icecream and custard arrived. It was all on Zaveid, and unexpectedly, on Lailah. Zaveid ate like a beast, as if he had been starving for so long he didn't even care what went into his mouth. But Lailah was elegant and slow-paced, though it didn't mean she lost the battle to the muscular wind seraph in quantity.

"You two are truly monsters…" Rose said, after counting they had both eaten nine servings of dessert. "They seem to be tied, Edna… what do we do?"

"Bring the cider…" Edna said with a severe voice as she ordered Mikleo to fetch the golden bottle. She served six glasses of it and fixed them in front of the contestants, who smiled as if they were just having a light meal at a morning picnic.

Lailah drank the first shot with ease and waited for Zaveid to do the same. He gulped it down with ease, and did the same with the second glass. Lailah took it slowly and drank her glass calmly, not even flinching from the taste. Zaveid reached his hand for the last glass of cider, but his fingers flinched as he grazed the crystal… had he reached his limit already? On the contrary, Lailah remained calm and her hands were steady as she held the last glass to her lips, chunking the liquid down immediately. Zaveid recognized he'd never get Lailah's peace of mind when it came to eating food, thus, he decided it'd be better to let her win.

"I can't believe I'm saying this… but Lailah is the ultimate holiday-leftover food champion!"

"Yeii! I'm so proud of myself right now! Burning energy as you eat is quite helpful, I had to experiment it with such amounts of food being served!" The eldest seraphim exclaimed with gleefulness. The fact that she used a slight part of her powers explained why she had so much appetite. "Thanks so much for joining the fight!"

"What'll be your prize, Lailah?"

"Oh, that's easy~ You all will be my servants for the rest of the week!" She smirked slyly. "I want you to cook some more holiday food for me~"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll still go against the system and put Zaveid and Dezel on the same scene because I'm a big baby and I refuse to do it otherwise.


	30. Jingles

Tales of Graces

Hubert could barely move while wrapped in three jackets, two hats and three scarves. His brother, being a lot more athletic than him, was able to run around the streets with ease, but the blue-haired boy had a lot of trouble just trying to move his legs. It wasn't even that cold, it was just their mother was ridiculously worried that they might get sick for playing outside. She shouldn't be worrying about them, though. Both children enjoyed incredibly good health, in stark contrast to their frail, pale and pink-haired friend. Still, Cheria had insisted on going on a trip to Barona that winter.

They had all accorded to behave and get good grades at school so that Lord Aston would take them all to visit Richard. The day had finally come, and the four children packed up their stuff and got into the cart that would take them to the capital, where their friend's castle was. Lord Aston would be attending some official business, so he'd leave Asbel on charge, if he showed he was responsible enough so that he'd not get everyone in trouble. The trip lasted an entire day, both by sea and by land, but by noon they were already leaving their bags at the Inn.

"Tomorrow we'll meet with Rich… I mean, with Tiger Festival! We'll see him at the gigantic green stone!"

"I think you mean the cryas, Asbel." Sophie said with her cold, monotonous voice. Asbel laughed and scratched his nose, without a care in the world.

"W-what are our plans for tomorrow, brother?" Hubert asked shyly.

"Oh, you'll see! It's gonna be really fun!"

Hubert would later regret agreeing to his sibling's plans. He'd be rushing behind him and Sophie, as he helped Cheria keep her pace by holding her arm as they walked. Asbel said it'd be better for them to wait for Richard before he got there, since he'd call a lot of attention and he'd be sneaking out of the castle for a while. Hubert was just hoping his brother would have picked another time rather than 6 am in the morning. At 6:30, the blonde prince appeared in commoner's clothes. He ran towards his friends and greeted them all with eagerness, insisting the had quite some trouble to get out just in time to meet them.

"Don't worry, it's still early, so we'll get to practice before doing what I had in mind!"

"It sounds kind of exciting." Richard said. Just like everybody else, nobody but Asbel knew what they were going to do. "What's the plan?"

"Well, we'll wake the neighbors by singing jingles all morning! We'll go knocking door by door and we'll ask for food, candy and stuff!"

"Asbel, this isn't trick or treating…" Sophie said, fixing Cheria's scarves so that they'd cover the younger girl's mouth. Cheria was doing fine, but all of them were acting slightly overprotective so that her situation would not worsen.

"I know, I know! But I know it's a good idea! What do you say?"

"Count me in!" Richard said, smiling with enthusiasm. "I just need to get into my Tiger Festival disguise so that it'll not cause me trouble." He had a holiday-colored mask that was pretty similar to the usual facemask he always brought when he sneaked out of his house.

"Then, how's about it we start by the Royal Academy? I bet the guards will give us something!"

The five kids walked towards the enormous metallic door, the entrance to the soldier's school that Asbel had dreamt for so long about entering. The grand statue of the founder stared at them, as if he was defying him to sing atop of his lungs. Asbel smiled and gaped for a bunch of air before he began singing in a very unruly and inharmonious voice.

"HOOoooOoOoLly NiiiiiIiIiIIIIGHT!"

"Oh my… Asbel, you said you'd wake the neighbors… but I didn't imagine you meant this." Cheria said, clinging to her friend's arm both for support and for warmth in that cold evening.

"Was it that bad?!"

"Terrible!" Hubert said, covering his ears. "Please don't do it again!"

"What's with all this scandal?!" A girlish voice came from one of the first-door rooms. They all turned around to find a young looking girl, perhaps around Sophie's age or some years older than Hubert and Asbel. She had pink and cream colored hair, and a couple of astonishing blue eyes. "Hey! Heya~" The girl greeted, waving her hand at the merry group. "You guys suck at singing!" The girl shouted, and a large, gloved hand dragged her inside the room.

"Do you know her, Richard?" Sophie asked, but the prince shook his head and insisted there were lots of recruits he'd never met. He'd only been in touch with some knights that practiced fencing or swordplay with him.

The girl reappeared, this time from one of the doors on the side. She was accompanied by one large man with dark blonde hair and beard. Cheria blushed slightly at the sight of such a masculine man, he looked like one of those knights from the books she liked to read, clad in his pristine white uniform. To richard's knowledge, the man was an important soldier who'd been serving the castle for a couple of years. His name was Malik, if he remembered correctly. The man greeted them all with kindness and handed each kid a candy cane, which they received with excitement.

"Hello, everyone~" the girl sang as she skipped towards them and stopped abruptly just some inches away from Hubert's face. He was a fan of personal space, but this girl was completely ignoring any rule or social convention. "Name's Pascal, nice to meet ya!"

"Hey there, Pascal!" Asbel greeted her and so did the other four.

"Huh, how nice, you make friends rather quickly, don't you?" Malik asked the girl and knelt down to the kids' eye-level. "Listen, if you want to get some money for singing jingles, go to main street and start with the old lady who sells accessories. She's quite lovely."

"Thanks!" Richard said excitedly, barely remembering he was going incognito. Malik stared at him in disbelief, but the prince shook his head and pointed at his lips, so that he'd get to keep his secret.

"Oh… hi, your Maj… er… Tiger Festival, right?" Malik asked doubtfully. "Pascal, why don't you take the kids for a walk and show them where can they sing jingles happily? Just make sure to come back by the time Fourier is finished with ehr conference."

"Yeah! Field-trip!" Pascal exclaimed, pulling Hubert from his sleeve. The children followed suite as Malik waved them goodbye and returned into the academy. "See ya later, Lt. Malik!" The girl blew a kiss at him and moved on with her small adventure."So! Who are you guys? What are you up to? Why is blondie wearing a mask? Why is pinky tied up in five scarves and three clothes? Can I be as cool as the cold, robo-girl? Why is the blue-haired little brother so cute?"

"Excuse me?!" Hubert asked, confused of being bombarded by so many questions. Just who was this girl?!"

"Yeah! You're cute! What's your name?"

"His name is Hubert, he's my baby brother!" Asbel introduced him. "We're going to sing jingles so that everyone will cheer up this morning! Wanna help us?"

"Hubert, huh?" She squeezed Hubert's cheeks, making him puff with anger. "I wanna marry someone like little-brother one day, he's so pretty!"

"W-will you come singing with us?" Cheria asked, grabbing the girl's arm before she got carried away and made Hubert turn a deeper shade of red.

"Yeah! I'll even teach you guys a song!" She cleared her throat and began singing: "On the first day of Christmas my Hubert gave to me, a super duper choco-banana split!"


	31. New Year's Resolutions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked these short stories, I certaintly enjoyed writting them, but I think the pressure I had to keep it updated daily kinda ruined my sleeping schedule x_x. I evidently failed in updating once a day, but believe me, I tried to write something everyday. The pessure was just too much and more than often I didn't finish and had chapters stacking for days.
> 
> Once again, if you've reached this chapter, thanks for keeping up until now. I also want to thank Presea221 from ff.net once again. Your reviews kept me up everyday, thanks for commenting on every single one of them! Have a very Happy New Year, everyone! Stay awesome~

It was the last night of the year. Rita was unable to tell if they were her friends, her new family, or a bunch of strangers joined by fate that had nothing in common but the renown of having saved the world once. She didn't like Yuri much, if she had to be honest. At first, it was under the childish impression he was rivaling her over Estelle's affection, but the genius mage suddenly noticed that wasn't the case. They were just friends, with very different agendas. No, what Rita didn't like about Yuri was his personality: he had the biggest ego and his own sense of justice made her stomach turn. He was a strong warrior and a loyal man, whatsoever, thus he still had some redeeming qualities, she guessed. In Rita's New Year's Resolutions, perhaps, she'd try to include being more patient with him.

Yuri was glad Flynn had decided to join them that evening. Even if they had been opposing each other, both seeking their own way of justice- righteous or not- they'd stay forever friends. No matter what happened. If anything, he had to thank the young soldier for putting him back on his feet earlier that year. A push on the back and a kick in the head usually did the trick, but nowadays Yuri needed more scolding than usual. He listed as his number one resolution getting his own place, so that Flynn would not feel guilty of spending his evenings visiting him at the Inn he'd been crashing for years now. And perhaps… perhaps he would be able to convince him to move in. Who knows…

The young soldier never felt as a stranger whenever he had to interact with the "rebels" he had to chase for almost a year, which he was unable to bring to justice in the end. Out of all of them, perhaps Princess Estellise was the most normal of the group. Kindhearted, naïve, charming and admittedly quite cute, Flynn felt a lot of empathy towards the pink haired girl. She only wanted to be free in this terrible world, and perhaps in the worst-case scenario, it had been Yuri who had forced open her door and took her out of her miserable life in the castle. He was glad she handled her own destiny nowadays. As a knight who served the royal family, his resolutions always had helping her until the very end. If he had to turn an entire empire to see her smile, he'd gladly do it.

Estellise liked everyone, and seemingly, everyone liked her. Of course, she usually got her friends mad at her for being so gullible and for her frequent mess-ups, but she never had a real issue with anyone of them… except perhaps with Raven. He wasn't a bad man, and whatever things he had to do under his superiors orders, Estelle knew they were all because of desperation. She'd never met someone so vulnerable, so broken, that still could manage to put a smile on their face. However Raven managed to do so, Estellise could still notice he was struggling to find a new way in life and he craved for forgiveness for everything he had done. Her resolution, not just with Raven, but towards everyone, was to help them find their way back into happiness.

Raven, on the other hand, wasn't as kind and grateful as his younger friends. He had always considered himself a selfish man, and such bad habit of his had brought nothing but despair to his life. For the past months, he had focused all his strength into putting others before himself. The first time he had ever experimented that strange feeling of fulfilment was after sacrificing himself to save the children on the ruins. From then on, he got a thrill whenever his life was on the line to protect them. Was it finally working? Was he finally recovering the human soul he had lost so many years ago? He believed it was mostly Karol's fault. Whenever he talked to the kid or whenever he trained with him, he saw himself on Karol. Young, cheerful, hopeful, perhaps a bit naive. But strong-willed and determined nonetheless. If anything, maybe Karol was like the son he'd always wished to have, or even he represented the childhood he didn't get to enjoy. His resolution was clear: he wanted to help the young warrior become a better man, so that he'd not stray on his path. Raven didn't want anybody to end up like him.

The young leader of the guild was amazed by how much he had grown in such little time. He wasn't the strongest, nor the smartest kid his age, but he had one thing none of the other children on his hometown had: an awesome, strange and messy family like his. For Karol, the party had become some sort of brotherhood, perhaps the most valuable thing for an orphan boy who lived in a warrior's den. His greatest pride was that, after ten months, Brave Vesperia kept growing steadily. Something he had crafted with his own hands was finally bearing results, and he couldn't be more proud of their achievements. The guild still had a long way to go, but he'd make sure he could make everyone feel like a family. Judith, perhaps, was the one who worried her the most. Rita as well. Both girls were alone in the world, ostracised by their own peers to the point of solitary confinement or voluntary exile. Even if they had their differences, Rita was like an older sister for Karol. Judith, from time to time, even turned into a mother figure. If he could wish for one thing, it'd be to make them feel like they had a place they belonged to.

Judith was, perhaps, the calmest member of the party. Cool-headed, wild and often led by instinct, even if she was letting herself go in the brink of battle, she'd always look as if she was floating in the sky, dancing in the air. She was a free spirit, who had just joined the group for the fun of it. She had her ulterior motives, but up till that evening, she had no true binding ties that latched her to her friends. The only one who was an exception to this rule was Repede himself. Judith had always thought animals were far more perfect partners than people. They'd listen, they would care, they'd protect you when in need. Her relationship with Ba'ul was based purely on blind trust and a life-long affection that no one but her and the young Entelexeia could understand. But as she grew closer to Yuri and the others, she noticed the swordsman's bond with his wolven dog was pretty much similar to hers. She had always liked the mutt, and as time went by, she noticed she had grown attached to it just like she had done with Ba'ul when they first met. Judith had no ulterior motives and she lacked any romanticized new year's resolutions. She just wished to have a new canine best friend for the next year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY FUCKING DONE. RIP ME.  
> Now, on to write something non-Tales related for a while or I'm gonna go mad.  
> *burns in eternal happiness and hatred*


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